Opaque Dreams
by cosmic-divinity
Summary: A prince whose dreams open doorways to the outside world, a princess of heart, and an elven prince: their destinies are tied together. Outside the oasis Sora and Kairi called home, they find a world torn apart by monsters with captured hearts. The elves have shut themselves away while kingdoms in slumber remain. Can the three of them unite to bring peace to the kingdoms again?
1. Chapter 1

**So, for a while I was using a different account since I couldn't remember the password to this one for the life of me, but I finally remembered, so I'm moving any stories I had posted to that other account to this one to clear up any confusion which is why stories on that account are now deleted. So, here is the soriku fantasy au I'm working on on my main account now, enjoy! **

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The forest has its own music. If one quiets their mind, their voice, they can hear it. The wind whistled a tune, using the leaves of trees and plants as its instruments. The boy smiled softly at the melody. It was rare to see a human so in tune with the forest, taking the time to listen to its soft voice, a voice that could easily be drowned out. In the stillness, he could even hear the quiet scampering of the rabbits as they stealthily ran through the underbrush. Waves of the cicadas' humming would overtake everything until it quieted once again. Everything..felt right here, nothing like how it was at home with schedules and tasks, always something to do. Here, he could be absolutely still and relaxed, letting the atmosphere and sounds of the forest overtake him. The world was quiet and still once when mystics and giants roamed the lands. He wondered if the stillness he felt here had any connection to those ancient times. Sure, there were probably conflicts as well back then, but they didn't last long as the ancient world didn't allow it to. Blocks of time..longer than any human could ever imagine. What was in those vast, forgotten times? Darkness, perhaps, or maybe there was something, but it was something no human could ever remember. He liked to imagine times of eternal peace during those forgotten periods, a time when life was beginning anew. For the first time in a while, the world was absolutely still besides the world's natural processes. It would rain, snow, yet the world remained still, untouched. Only the ancient trees and rocks remembered those times, a time when they were truly alone. How many times did this reset happen? And would it happen again sometime soon? He furrowed his brows at the thought. Conflict, blood, it stained this current world. Perhaps the universe or whatever ruled over this world would have enough eventually. What would happen? Where would he end up..his friends? It was as if the ancient energy of the forest was guiding his thoughts. In such deep thought and trying his hardest to see what he was never meant to see, the snap of a nearby stick startled him into sitting bolt upright. A week without rain had left the forest dry. The sound was piercing, like a bone cracking under pressure. Blinking his eyes open, he was met by harsh sunlight. His eyes were still trying to adjust from the darkness under his eye lids to the bright world outside. Squinting over in the direction of the sound, a figure stood just on the line of trees. The image was foggy, like looking at someone through opaque glass. It wasn't clear enough to make out anything discernible besides that it was a person who stood upright. Colors of silvery white and black were visible. Blinking a few more times for good measure, his eyes finally started to adjust to the light. Scanning over the figure, pointed ears protruded through white hair that seemed to shimmer against the sunlight much like water on the surface of a still pond, donning a dark cloak that seemed to shine with something woven into the fabric. The piercing eyes of an elf stared back into his. Stories of the elves spoke of their beauty and bravery, though the modern iterations had twisted the ancient ones to tell a different story. Still, he was mesmerized, caught in this impromptu staring contest. It seemed the white haired elf wasn't going to back down, standing as still as a figure in a painting. For a while, it was simply a mutual studying of the other. Neither of them attempted to move as the breeze gently blew around them.

The elf's eyes snapped towards a sudden voice, and in one graceful motion, he disappeared into the forest.

"Soraaaa! Hey, where did you wander off to?" Sora shook his head a couple of times, attempting to get his mind back to the present. In his defense, it was easy to lose track of time here. When he let himself get taken in by the gentle aura of the forest, he could lie there for hours letting his mind wander to other realms.

A girl was next to emerge from the trees. The look of annoyance on her face was obvious along with the fallen leaves in her hair, but she smiled upon seeing him.

"Did you hear me calling for you? You know, it'd be a lot easier to find you if you answered back," she said, offering him her hand.

"Sorry, Kairi. You know me. I was daydreaming as usual," Sora chuckled with an apologetic look. He accepted the helping hand, finding a dizzying sensation starting as soon as he got up. He held his head, waiting for it to pass.

"Geez, your zoning out is like on another level." She held onto his shoulders, so he wouldn't fall over until he seemed to be fine to stand on his own. "Come on, we need to get back to the palace. This is something you shouldn't be late for."

Kairi didn't give him much time to recover from his dizzy spell as she began walking back, taking the old worn path that wound its way through the forest to the palace grounds.

"Um, remind me again what's happening today," Sora said, scratching the back of his head. It seemed he always had his head in the clouds. Luckily, Kairi was usually there to remind him.

"This is important, Sora. Emissaries from one of the main Elven kingdoms are visiting today as guests. It's important that we try to make a good relationship with them and end these conflicts. I mean, we're the only kingdom that's really trying to make amends with the elves. And the prince being late to their arrival doesn't look very good on our part, now does it?" Kairi gave him a serious look which Sora answered with a nod of understanding.

"Ah, right, I remember now. I actually saw an elf in the forest earlier, right before you found me. We just kinda..looked at each other. It was weird but..kinda cool too." Sora kept replaying the memory in his mind, not wanting to forget it.

"That's strange. A lone elf doesn't usually linger around when there's a human nearby. But, I guess you're not really threatening." Kairi playfully bumped his arm. "It also helps that you always forget to take your keyblade with you when you go out. You're lucky you haven't run into bandits."

"Guess it just slips my mind haha." He noticed the one hanging off Kairi's belt. They were the main weapon of choice, though he seemed to always be the one person without one due to his own negligence.

Within the stone walls of the castle, the banners overhead and the multitude of paintings were a blur as he was rushed through to his chambers. The elves were due to arrive soon, and he needed to be changed out of his clothes which carried the dirt from the forest. With a flourish of scarlet, he donned a red cloak last.

His walking pace quickly turned into a run as trumpets resounded through the air, signaling a party's arrival. Sora's eyes squinted at the figures arriving in the distance. The harsh sunlight along with dust being kicked up by horses distorted the figures as he struggled to see, but the pointed ears were apparent. The elves were here.

As they started to dismount, he immediately bowed in respect. The important thing here was to create mutual respect and trust. Their help was essential. All sides would lose if they stay at odds. A sound began to form in his throat, but he kept his mouth sealed shut which most likely created a rather ridiculous expression. Same shimmery white hair, piercing topaz eyes, only now he was up close and personal, studying Sora in the same way he had back in the forest. Everything in the background seemed to fade out as he focused solely on the familiar elf. He glanced for a moment at the other's keyblade. The feeling of eyes on them reminded him of their current position.

"Er, oh, welcome! I'm Prince Sora," he blurted out, practically shooting his hand out towards the elf. The heat on his face only increased in intensity as the elf snickered at the sudden outburst.

"We humbly accept your hospitality, Prince Sora. I am the current elf prince, Riku." He bowed back, though Sora noted with much more grace than himself.

"Oh, you're a prince too? Not quite king yet, huh?"

"I'm afraid the king is rather busy, so I'm here instead. Sorry to disappoint, but you're one to talk coming from a kingdom with no king." His teasing tone was much more obvious.

"Yeah, well, I'll be king soon. Mark my words." Sora cleared his throat before his tone was interpreted as disrespectful by the elves that were watching their interaction like hawks. "A-anyways, I'll show you around the place, Riku."

He seemed friendly enough..in a slightly patronizing kind of way, but they were guests nonetheless.

As Riku followed behind him, Sora noted the feel of his presence. His footsteps were light, almost indiscernible, but deliberate in the way he walked. The feeling wasn't intense, but it was enough to know there was someone behind him like walking down an alleyway when you know there's someone there. Even when unseen, the sensation of his eyes on him felt like tiny needles just pricking lightly against the back of his neck. He noted to himself to maybe not piss Riku off if he could help it.


	2. Chapter 2

A soft breeze rustled the trees in the courtyard. Despite that, the area was calm and still, almost eerily like stepping into the eye of a storm. The water of the small pond shimmered like glass. This place never ceased to amaze Riku, the complete opposite of where he had come from. There was a time when the place he had called home for so long was once like this. It was an oasis, a shelter, but that seemed life times ago. A feeling crept over him. It may have been dejavu at a familiar sort of setting, but something inside of him recognized this place. He knew for sure he had never been here..at least physically. As he sat on a bench with Sora he wore a puzzled look, trying to fit pieces together that were simply not made to.

"Your kingdom makes no sense," he said flatly after a long time of silence. Everything about this place confused him in a familiar sort of way.

"Uh, excuse me?" Sora couldn't help but laugh at the sudden statement. "I get it. We're humans, and you're an elf."

"No, it's not that. Where are the monsters? The chaos? This has to be one of the last protected places. My kingdom used to be like this, but the barrier was broken." Riku scratched his head, focusing on the way the sunlight danced across the water's surface. "I basically had to fight my way here, and once I got through the forest, it was like I walked through a veil of some sort, and the monsters were gone."

"Monsters? There are monsters out there? The only thing I know is that there are conflicts happening out there. Other than that, I'm..pretty clueless to the whole situation." Sora cocked his head to the side at him. There was a distant coldness to this elf, but he may be a good source of information.

"You seriously don't know? Is this place really completely protected? I..wow, you really don't know." Riku shook his head, letting out a long sigh. He couldn't be that naive, could he? "Tell me, why does this place seem to be in perfect balance with no set ruler? There's no king, just a clueless prince." Sora made a face at that remark, though he wouldn't deny it.

"Well, to tell you the truth, there's a large gap in time in my memory. I can barely recall my past, just like flashes of images. I remember dreaming, and..I must've been asleep for a long time. I know for sure I had a mother. There's depictions of her all over the palace. When I woke up, everything was how it is now. It's just me and Kairi, and everyone who works around this place." It was like being in a hazy fog. Sometimes, there were brief flashes of light where shadowy figures moved about. Sora was floating, able to look around but unable to move. Something must've happened there for when he woke up, his body felt stiff and sore like he had just been fighting. "I remember a little bit before waking up. I was lost..for what reason I'm not sure. I think I was stuck, and then, on the horizon, I saw this brilliant blue light. There were no other waypoints to go by, so I started running towards it, and that's when I woke up."

"Blue light, huh? I'm not sure what it means either, but I guess something or someone wanted you to wake up. It is nice to be somewhere where I don't have to worry about monsters, though," Riku sighed. He shifted his weight to his other arm as he leaned back some. Safe havens were tough to find. It was like searching for one spot amongst a group of stars.

"So, there really are monsters, then? What is the world like out there?" Being in here the whole time, Sora had no idea of what was going on. He had heard stories from people who managed to make it here, but many of them didn't want to say much about it. Riku looked to be in pretty good shape, though he could more than likely hold his own from the look of his keyblade and those...arms.

"Yes, cities and villages are falling one by one. Some come in hordes and simply overtake the landscape. The more powerful ones show up alone, and then there are the cloaked figures who seem to control them to some extent." He visibly shivered, casting his gaze towards the ground. If it wasn't for his own strength, he would've never made it out.

"Cloaked figures? Do you know anything else about them?" Sora's curiosity only grew. He knew nothing besides a few glimpses he saw in his dreams.

"I don't see their faces, but I know their weapons, and I think I know where their main headquarters are. Under the elf king, I was part of a task force of sorts to basically find out who's responsible for this mayhem. We then learned of your kingdom here, and I was sent to investigate. The light from this place is how we found it, and gave you word of my arrival." Places like this were basically beacons against the dull, gray landscape of the world outside. It's no wonder so many fled here. His ears twitched at a pair of footsteps, looking to the right to see Kairi walked towards them. So far, Sora was easy enough to read, but he'd have to work on getting to know her. She placed a tray with three drinks on it down on the nearby table. In the heat of the sun, water was already starting to run down the smooth glass.

"Hey, guys! I brought some lemonade." She met Riku's gaze with a smile. He tried his best to mimic that smile. "I didn't know if you like lemonade or not, Riku, but I figure it's something most people enjoy."

"It's been a long time, but yeah, I do like it." Riku studied her for a bit longer before taking a few sips. Well, there was one way to learn more about someone in a short amount of time. "Just the right amount of sweet. Thanks."

"I'm glad you like it! You're the first guest here in a while..which I guess isn't really a good thing, huh? We used to get a lot of people seeking shelter, but lately, there have been less and less." Her smile faded some. Her rubbed along the glass, catching some of the water droplets before setting it down.

"Kairi, this may sound like a strange request out of nowhere, but would you like to spar for a bit? There's no need for me to spar with Sora. I think I already know him pretty well," Riku asked. He stood up, stretching his arms over his head. He made a face as a few muscles in his back caught at the movement. Nevertheless, he was always up to spar.

"Hey! I wanna spar too!" Sora blurted out. The glass in his hand nearly slipped out of his grip and ended up on the floor.

"Me? Well, sure. I'm always up for a challenge. Sora, how about you get to spar whoever the winner is?" Kairi offered, patting his shoulder. So far, all he knew was that she seemed kind and caring, but from his own experiences, Riku knew better than to take that for weakness. Some of the strongest people he knew were like that. With the yes from her, Riku shed off his jacket, leaving him in just a tank top. Sora's eyes widened instantly as his eyes glossed over his practically sculpted biceps. Why did his tank top have to be so tight? He sat there with a fist over his mouth, shamelessly ogling him. Were elves just naturally ripped? As he stepped out to the middle of the courtyard he drew his keyblade, swinging it around a couple times in an obvious act of showing off. For a moment his eyes met Sora's, and he wore a disapproving look as he could tell _exactly _where Sora was looking. Kairi giggled, putting on a look of determination. She stayed with her patterned dress and leggings, drawing her keyblade out as well. It was thinner and much more detailed than Riku's, but Riku stiffened when he could feel the power emanating from it. He attempted to size her up as she walked out to where he was. Her demeanor seemed to completely change. Her footsteps were unyielding, and she walked with a purpose. With that aura, Riku found himself actually taking a step back, shaking his head as he corrected his footing. Once she was right in front of him, she held her keyblade out to touch Riku's in place of a handshake.

"May the best human or elf win!" There was that usual genuine smile again, but there was definitely something more intimidating about it. Riku gulped at the slight feel of power from her keyblade into his and acknowledged her with a nod.

"Let's go."

Riku had thought he was fast, but Kairi was something else. Whenever she couldn't dodge an attack in time, she used a spell to quicken her steps. Sweat began to bead up on the back of Riku's neck as he had to continuously guard against her magic as well as physical attacks. He was able to get a good amount of reach with his keyblade thankfully. They both charged at each other at their full strengths. There was a brief flash of light as both their keyblades clashed together. Riku gritted his teeth as the sore spot in his back did not like that at all. The muscles tightened and protested in pain, causing Riku to yield some to Kairi's strength.

Sora watched in amazement the whole time. Watching two strong fighters go at it at full strength was something else. He had sparred a few times with Kairi, but it had never been anything serious like this, mostly just casual practice. A bit of self doubt surfaced at watching them, but he quickly shoved it aside, standing up and cheering once Kairi managed to pin Riku to the ground.

"Alright, you win," Riku sputtered. The sheer pressure of her keyblade pressing against his chest was almost too much to even breathe.

"Yes! I knew my training would pay off." Seeing that Riku's face was probably going to turn a shade of blue soon, she quickly got off of him and offered him a hand. "Sorry if I overdid it, but that is what you wanted, right? A challenge?"

"No..no need to apologize. Thanks for the great match," Riku managed to say with a cough. He slid the keyblade back into its hilt and dusted himself off. She was as powerful as he thought. In battle, she was nearly unrelenting. He kept a mental note to never piss her off ever. Sora came running up, practically bouncing up and down. Riku was convinced he never ran out of energy.

"That was awesome, guys! I guess I get to spar with Kairi next, then, but I gotta spar you sometime too, Riku."

Riku groaned at the thought of doing that again, rubbing at his back.

"I noticed your bit of hesitation while fighting. Are you injured somewhere?" Kairi asked. She looked him over inquistively as if trying to analyze where the injury was.

"It's nothing serious. There's just a spot on my back that's sore. I must've pulled some of the muscles while fighting out there." He pointed over to way beyond the woods.

"Oh, well, that's easy!" With a wave of her keyblade, Kairi cast a mild healing spell. Riku felt a slight rush before the stinging pain in his back was gone. He twisted around a few times to test it out.

"Well, that's useful. Thank you. I think after that, I'm going to head in to get some rest. I have travelled far to get here after all." He waved to Kairi, then turned to glare down at Sora. He extended one finger out to poke at his forehead. "Better watch where your eyes are looking, human boy." Holding his head up high, he took his leave back towards the palace.


	3. Chapter 3

Riku sat on a lone hillside overlooking the small palace. His eyes followed along the rolling hills of the landscape. It seemed that it was mostly made of the forest with the area around the palace being one of the only clearings. Being midday, the sun shone down harshly from high in the sky. He found himself having to squint if he looked up a bit too high. He was still panting slightly from his own practice earlier. This place really was like a little slice of paradise, like an island in the middle of the ocean far away from everything else. His own heartache, everything he had witnessed thus far, seemed to almost disappear, but there was no way he could ever forget the turmoil out there. Sooner or later, he'd have to venture out again. From his spot on the hill, he could see Kairi wandering through the gardens. He couldn't seem to spot Sora, sighing as that meant he most likely followed him. It would be nice to have those two with him out there, but..were they really ready? As far as Riku knew, they had no idea what was going on besides Sora having dreams.

"His dreams..he must be connected to someone or something, but who could it be?" Riku thought to himself.

A sudden pressure on his shoulder caused him to practically whip around, his hands quickly balling up into fists. His eyes were wild and ready for a fight at being suddenly broken off from his trance. However, his guard instantly lowered when he saw familiar ocean blue eyes and bronze toned skin.

"Oh, it's just you," he sighed, turning back around to his original position. Damn, maybe he had been on the run for too long.

"Sorry if I startled you." Sora bowed apologetically, carefully sitting down next to Riku. For a moment, he studied the elf's side profile: the way the gentle breeze tousled his hair, his pointed ears that twitched at nearby sounds every now and then, that jaw line.. In the light, his skin glistened with a sheen of sweat the sparring and practice earlier. He tore his eyes away when they focused on his biceps, knowing the look of disdain he received when he was caught staring. "I, um, I forgot how rough you've had it out there. I guess Kairi and I have been pretty lucky being in here."

"Are you sure you want to go out there with me? You know, I'm perfectly fine with a 'no.' I'll just continue my mission by myself." Being alone was something he was very much used to. For a long time, he had thought of it as a weakness, but now, he knew his true strength. Could he even trust them with the truth?

"I can't just ignore my dreams. There's something out there that's calling me, and I have to find out what," Sora said without even thinking. Riku nearly laughed out loud at that confident smirk on his face, having to cover his mouth. Sora's face soon scrunched up into a pout. "And you're not taking me seriously, are you?"

"I swear I am," Riku finally said once he calmed himself down, though he couldn't help the smile that had spread on his face. "I just didn't expect such an immediate response." It looked like there was no way of him leaving this place by himself. He could at least count on Kairi for magical strength.

Silence took over for a little while between the two. Riku stared off in the distance, thinking through a tentative plan. He was going to have to take greater precautions with these two tagging along. Sora twiddled his thumbs, taking little peeks at Riku every now and then. It would help if he knew some of his interests so they could talk about something. He really did want to know more about him.

"Oh! You're an elf!"

"Yeah, last time I checked I was," Riku said, rolling his eyes before glancing at Sora with an "are you serious" look.

"Hey, I wasn't done, okay? You're an elf, so I'm guessing you speak Elvish, right? I know there are probably different dialects, but you're the first elf I've met." It was a start at least.

"I am the Elven Prince. I would hope I could speak my native tongue." Riku sighed as he saw the big eyes Sora was giving him. "Yes, yes, I do speak it."

"Wow! That's so cool! Maybe you could teach me a few words sometime." Sora smiled brightly, simply excited to learn something new about Riku.

" Eithad adel," Riku said after some thought, not able to hold back a snicker. Sora, on the other hand, felt like he had heard a chorus of the gods. The way the foreign words effortlessly rolled off Riku's tongue..well, he could listen to that all day.

"Oh, right, what does that mean?" He cleared his throat, hoping he hadn't been off in a daze for too long.

"I called you a dumb butt," Riku laughed, playfully poking Sora's forehead.

"I feel like I should be insulted, but you said it so beautifully." Sora puffed up his cheeks at the remark but couldn't seem to stop smiling. He decided to test their boundaries a bit, ever so slowly scooching closer to Riku. He regarded Sora's movements with a side glance but made no attempt to protest. From their short time together so far, he had learned that there wasn't much that was going to stop Sora once he put his mind to something.

"You might not want to get too close to me. I'm pretty sweaty." Riku was thankful for the gentle breeze that blew past every now and then. He tilted his head forward whenever it passed by, sighing softly as it cooled the back of his neck. The sweat along his arms only defined his muscles even more so, glistening in the sun.

"Oh, uh, I don't mind. I train too, and the climate is pretty much the same all the time here, so I'm used to it," he said quickly, darting his eyes away. He shifted his focus on the rolling hills in the distance that Riku was looking at.

"There's something I've been wondering about.." Riku said after the quiet moment. "You're both avid keyblade fighters, yet you reside in a peaceful place like this. Normally, in a place like this, you wouldn't be at the fighting level you're at."

"Hmm, it's a mystery to me too. I just..kind of know I guess. I hold my keyblade, and I just know how to fight like they're abilties from a time that I've forgotten. So, I can't really explain much to you unfortunately." Sora looked down at the grass beneath him. He absentmindingly picked at blades of grass, tossing them into the wind.

"Does this have to do with your dreams and lapse in memory?"

"Yeah, I just wish I could remember everything before I went to sleep, but I'm hopeful that travelling with you and venturing out will help." In a rare moment, Sora's smile disappeared replaced with a forlorn look. Riku moved to face Sora, taking a deep breath and placing a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

"Hey, I'm sure you'll remember, and I'll be happy to help, okay?"

Riku felt his heart practically flutter as Sora's grin came back, nodding enthustically. He turned his head off to the side as he felt a heat overtaking his face.

"Hey, Riku?"

"Y-yeah?" Riku still looked away, knowing his face was probably beet red by now.

"What's the Elvish word for friend?"

"I-it's 'mellon.'"

"Well, you're my mellon, then!"

Sora and Kairi seemed more enthusastic about heading out on the journey more so than Riku. He had repeatedly stressed they didn't have to leave until they felt ready, but it was a mere few days later, and they were packed up and ready to go. He would miss this place even though he had only been here for a short while. There was a familiarity about it that he just couldn't shake. Oases like this were hard to come by, but there was a slight chance they may encounter another. His kingdom was one, but that was far, far away. Around twilight of the final day, the three of them stood by the border in the forest. The sky above was ablaze in orange and tones of red. Massive clouds loomed in the distance, looking like grand mountains of a calderra. For a moment, there was absolute peace, but they were only seconds away from entering a world where danger lurked around every corner.


	4. Chapter 4

Riku stayed on high alert as they passed through the veil into the world outside. Sora and Kairi didn't notice much of a change. It seemed to be the same forest as before as they continued onward. However, Riku could feel the change of atmosphere through his own being. His spine bristled as the air grew heavier. It wasn't anything he wasn't used to, but it was jarring to say the least after being in that paradise free from the darkness. Sunlight filtered through the canopy of leaves like light through a thin gauze, dancing on the layers of dirt and leaves on the ground. Riku kept glancing around, keeping an eye out for anything moving about. He didn't sense anything in the immediate vicinity which was a good sign. He had been expecting something or someone to be waiting right by the border. Recalling his way here, it had been a run for his life. "They" had pursued him all the way here. Why weren't they here?

"Do you sense anything, Riku?" Sora asked from behind him. The change in Riku's disposition was apparent. He usually seemed at ease in posture, but as soon as they had exited, he noticed Riku stiffen up, ears perked up. They moved each time one of them stepped on a stick or dried up leaf, his muscles tensed and flexed.

"No, nothing thankfully," he said about a minute after he asked.

As they walked further through the forest, Sora started to notice a change in the fauna. The trees started to have less and less leaves. Flowering plants had completely disappeared, giving the landscape of monochrome sort of color of gray and brown. Eventually, even the birds had stopped singing. The only sound was the whistling of the wind through the cracked and dry trees.

"This place is spooky. Kinda like a graveyard or something," Sora muttered and stuck close to Kairi. Both of them quickened their pace to stay by Riku.

"Is this what the monsters have done to the land?" Kairi asked. She kept a firm grasp on the handle of her keyblade in its scabbard, holding Sora's hand with the other.

"Yeah. They'll sap the life away from anything. It's definitely not good if we're going into an area like this." Riku sniffed the air. Burning. Death. He could faintly smell smoke as well as monsters. As much as he wanted to avoid it, these two needed to see this. In a world like this, there was no way he could keep them safe from the truth forever. "Come on. There's something you both need to see."

Riku followed the scent of smoke, having to pause every now and then to get the trail. As they drew closer to the source, a thick cloud of it could be seen rising into the blue sky. It was haunting to say the least: a perfectly sunny day. The smell of it was soon becoming overwhelming, forcing Riku to have to cover his nose and mouth. Even Sora and Kairi had to do the same eventually.

He brought them to a rocky outcrop that overlooked what once was a prospering village. Riku recalled seeing it on his way to the oasis. It had been just fine with the villagers walking about outside with little to no fear. There was a hollow pang in his chest. Could this have possibly been his own fault? He had been chased through here, leaving the village open for an attack. No, there was no use in dwelling on that. This happened to nearly every village out here eventually. Riku gestured for them to look as they arrived at the edge of the cliff. Sora's eyes widened in fear, nearly falling backwards at the sight before them. Down below were the remains of what once was a village. A few of the houses were still intact, but most of them were consumed by an inferno of flames. Whole fields of crops were ablaze, creating thick layers of smoke that hung about the area. Amongst the destruction and turmoil, shadowy creatures walked about. There was no sign of any humans anywhere only the creatures. The ones causing the fires flew about, spewing brilliant orange flames everywhere.

"This happens a lot. We call them Heartless because they are merely hollow shells of the people they were. All of the ones you see down there are the people who perished in the attack." Riku looked down at the scene with dull eyes. He wished he could feel something at seeing stuff like this, but he was far too used to it..too desensitized to it.

"N-no way..those were people?" Sora felt like he was about to collapse at a moment's notice. He clung onto Kairi to prevent that from happening.

"This is awful..I didn't know it was this bad." Kairi clenched her eyes shut, resulting in more tears running down her face. Her hands balled up into fists, knuckles turning white. "Why were we in there for so long? We could've been helping them. We could've prevented this from happening."

"There's no sense in getting all worked up over something you couldn't have stopped. This has been going on for a while now. It's not your fault," Riku said, walking over to them. "If anything, I should've been more careful about the route I took to get to you guys."

"Riku, I'm sure there was little you could've done. You had a mission to find us after all." Sora's voice cracked a few times as he talked, though he couldn't help the little sniffles.

"How do you fix something like this, Riku?" Kairi suddenly asked. There was an intensity in her eyes through the tears as she let go of Sora.

"Fix? Well, they died, but you can slay the Heartless. Free them from that existence I suppose." Riku took a few steps back at that look. She was serious. Dead serious. He'd recognize eyes like that anywhere. He watched as they turned from placid blue to a bright shade of yellow. "This town deserves to be at peace again."

"K-Kairi, we will, okay? Just, calm down." Even Riku was rather nervous to approach her, reaching his hands out. There wasn't much he could do to stop it. A second ago she was right there, and the next she was gone, running down the less steep side of the outcrop on a warpath for the burning village. She drew out her keyblade. It began to glow brilliantly, brimming with magic.

"Kairi! Wait!" Sora called, reaching out for her but a bit too late. "I've never seen her like that." Sora felt like his whole body was shaking, but he soon drew out his keyblade as well. "Riku, let's go help her. I want to free them too..even if I am scared."

"Of course, though from the look of her, I'm not sure if she'll really need the help."

_Thes. _Riku cursed under his breath. He and Sora ran after Kairi into the inferno that once was a peaceful village. Kairi fought with rage as if something powerful had possessed her. Riku and Sora even had to dodge a few of her magic attacks that strayed their way. The only ones that put up the most fight were the flying, fire breathing Heartless. The ones of the fallen villagers were taken out easily.

"Aezoler!" Riku used the Elven water rune to put out the fires. It took more than a few times, and by the time all that was left was decrepit buildings and steam, he felt like he was going to fall over from the amount of magical energy he used. Once she had pierced her keyblade through the last Heartless, Kairi's eyes went blank. She first fell to her knees then completely onto the ground. Sora ran over as soon as he saw her fall, nearly tripping various times over pieces of rubble sticking up out of the ground.

"Kairi! Kairi! Are you okay?" As gently as he could, he picked her up to hold her in his arms. Her chest rose and fell gently, eyes shut as she lied there unconscious.

"Looks like she wore herself out." Riku walked over as he slid his keyblade back into the scabbard on his back. "She expended all her energy in that rage of hers. She'll be fine." Riku took her from Sora to carry her.

"What..what do we do now?" Sora still knelt on the ground, looking up at Riku with tear filled eyes.

"We get to a town. We get supplies and new equipment and move on from there. Does that sound good?" It was a bit difficult to kneel down to Sora's level while holding Kairi, but Riku attempted it anyway. He did his best to make his voice as gentle as possible. He had to keep reminding himself that these two weren't used to this.

"Um, yeah, but could I do something here first?"

Riku nodded, watching Sora get up, though his legs were still wobbly. He made his way to the middle of the village, picking out a piece of wood from one of the wrecked houses. He pressed one end of it into the ground so it stood up on his own. Fishing out an old amulet from his pocket, he tied it around the top end of it. It wasn't anything too special to him, just something from home, but he felt that this was the right thing to do. He bowed his head to the little memorial he made, pressing his hands together in reverence. Riku walked over but stayed a distance away.

"I'm sorry we weren't here to help when all of you needed us. I hope that you're resting peacefully somewhere. I'm afraid..afraid to fight or to see more atrocities like this, but I know that there are more people that need help. So, I'll fight. That's a promise."

As the smoke had started to clear, the sun shone on what once was the village again. Rays of light reflected in the red gem of the amulet. Bits of red light danced along Sora's face. After a few moments, he turned to walk back over to Riku. It seemed a quiet calmness had washed over this place once again.


	5. Chapter 5

A dustbowl. That was the best way to describe this town. The stomping of feet on the dirt roads created an ever present atmosphere of dust and debris. Riku did his best to keep Kairi close to him to prevent her from breathing too much of it in. He could already feel it caking onto his hair, resulting in a more pissed off look than usual. The instant they had arrived, all eyes looked their way. It was obvious they had been in a fight, most likely looking like they had just stepped out of a blazing inferno which was pretty much true. Sora hadn't said much since they left for this town, simply keeping close to Riku. It would take time to process everything. After all, these two hadn't seen anything like that living in their safe little bubble kingdom or at least not anything that they remembered. Sora did seem to brighten up some once they had arrived at the dusty town, excited to find a place that was monster free and full of people living their lives. The sudden attention probably had to do with their keyblades as well. There was a time when keyblade wielders were quite common, but times change after all. Now, simply seeing one was enough to fill everyone with hope.

Walking into a small shop, Riku and Sora shook themselves off, leaving a cloud of dust in their wake. The older man at the counter was about to greet them, nearly falling backwards at the company standing before him. He looked between the disgruntled elf, the unconscious woman he carried, and the other guy with a bright grin on his face.

"You just gonna stare at us all day?" Riku gave an expectant look, shifting into high and mighty prince mode.

"O-oh! Forgive me! You just took me by surprise is all. It's not often I see an elf along with all of you bearing keyblades," he said quickly, beckoning them to come closer. "What can I do for you?"

"We're in need of some potions along with new equipment as well. I'll need three sets of chain mail, the best you have for the three of us, along with some armor." He glanced at Sora, looking over his outfit. The fight had really done a number on their clothes too. "Looks like new clothes too, protected and enchanted ones would be preferred. We'll take a look at what you have and what needs to be made." Riku pulled out a pouch that had been tied to his belt. He plopped it onto the counter with the unmistakable cling of large coins inside. "This should more than cover the costs."

"Riku! You don't need to pay for everything. I'm just as mature and responsible," Sora protested, feeling his head spin just from hearing the list of stuff.

"Oh? Do you have any money to contribute?" Riku cocked his head to the side, slumping down to his level slightly or as best he could while still carrying Kairi. "Something tells me I already know the answer."

Even though he already knew the outcome, Sora dug his hands into his pockets anyway, and of course, finding nothing but small trinkets he had brought from home.

"Yeah, well, I'll pay you back for this somehow. That's a promise!" Sora stuck his tongue out, disliking whenever Riku flaunted being taller.

"Not to worry. These Elven coins are of much higher value than the common currency. It'll more than cover the costs," the shopkeeper ensured, fretting that the two were going to keep on arguing. "Follow me. All of my wares are in the back."

Riku stuck his tongue out at Sora in return before following him.

Despite his magical energy still being low, he cast another healing spell on Kairi, gently setting her down on some nearby cushions. She most likely depleted all her energy going berserk like that. Eventually, with the help of some healing potions, her eyes slowly opened. She groaned as she stretched her arms as if waking from a deep sleep.

"Kairi! You're okay!" Sora was already by her side not unlike some happy puppy.

"Good, you're awake which means I don't have to keep carrying you around. Now, come pick out some armor and such before I have to choose for you," Riku said matter of factly, tapping his foot expectantly. It would save some whining in the long run if they just picked out their own stuff.

"Gee, thaaanks, Riku. You're so kind," Kairi said back with a roll of her eyes.

"Haha, I think he just has his own way of being nice." Sora offered her a hand, seeing that her legs were still shaking slightly.

Riku went ahead and picked out enchanted chainmail for all of them, choosing not to get much armor for himself. His jacket wasn't too badly damaged, going for new dark pants and a tank top. He left Sora and Kairi to pick out whatever they wanted as he went to change.

He decided to wait outside the shop for the other two, letting them take their time. He felt the wood of the side of the building dig into his back slightly as he leaned against it. Their combat was decent that was for sure at least in tense situations. Still, should he have brought them along? He had been doing just fine on his own, but orders were orders. They hadn't even run into any of "them" yet which sent a shiver down his spine just thinking about it. He met any stares he received with an icy one of his own which sent people briskly walking away especially seeing the size of the keyblade he carried on his back. Riku couldn't really blame them much for being curious. Ever since all of this started, elves had been scarce. His kingdom was one of the last remaining. After closing his eyes in contemplation for roughly three seconds, he heard a "Rikuuu!" which was unmistakably from Sora. Peeking one eye open, he saw them dressed relatively in the same way they had come in. They had most likely used magic to mend their clothes aside from new black and silver leggings that Kairi was wearing. Sora donned gauntlet armor with a plate of it that also protected his forearm and another by his shoulder. The chain mail peeked through by his collar. Surprisingly, he looked almost battle ready. Kairi's armor went along her shins to her knees which would deal more damaging kicks.

"Wow, I'd almost call you two warriors now," Riku teased, easing himself off of the wall he had been leaning against.

"I do feel like I'm actually ready to take on some Heartless," Sora said, missing Riku's sarcasm completely.

"Heh, right, whatever you say." Riku turned his attention to Kairi. She seemed alright, at least on the outside. He could sense her magical energy again, full to the brim. "How are you feeling, Kairi?"

"Ready to take on the world and kick some ass!" She flexed, looking quite pleased with herself. "So, where are we headed anyway? You never really clarified that."

"To my kingdom. One of the last Elven kingdoms left. We can make a greater plan from there," Riku said, walking over to glance at a map of the town. "But it won't be easy, and we need to be prepared. We'll stay in this town for the night and head out refreshed and ready in the morning." Riku took a moment to survey their surroundings. Beyond the main town, a lake sparkled against the sun not too far away. He always found it easier to rest and meditate by water, away from the bustle of the crowds. "Can I trust you two to get us a room at an inn while I go relax over there." He pointed over towards the lake.

"I'll take care of it. I should do something since I was out of it for a while." She leaned in by Sora to whisper by his ear. "Go with Riku. Find out more about this angsty elf." She didn't give him much of a chance to reply before running off, soon disappearing in the ever present cloud of dust. Sora gulped at the scrutinizing stare from Riku before Riku shrugged and started heading towards the lake. Not having much of a choice, he followed after him, keeping his eyes towards the ground. He focused on the way Riku walked. Most of his weight went to the balls of his feet. He hardly ever had his heels touch the ground. He figured it was out of habit to be stealthy. After all, his footsteps were hardly audible. Sora couldn't help but admire the way Riku walked, head held high in absolute certainty of where he was going with such graceful steps. He really could watch him walk or do anything all day..and he shifted his focus towards what was in front of them: the lake. It wasn't huge but still a marvel to behold. With little to no wind whisping through the air, the surface was still, reflecting the distant forest almost perfectly. Once they arrived, he copied Riku in sitting cross legged by the shore. Calm, lazy waves lapped at the gravel, hardly moving the stones at all.

"So, um, are we meditating? Everytime I try to, I just end up falling asleep," Sora laughed in an attempt to break the silence. Trying to start a conversation was always so nerve wracking, resulting in Sora constantly moving his feet around.

"Meditation takes focus and practice," Riku began, trying to give advice though the twitch of his ears gave away his slight irritation as he opened one eye. Trying to focus on the sounds of nature around him was just a bit difficult with Sora talking, but he couldn't blame him for being curious. He didn't know why he had a soft spot for him already..all he could say was that he just did. "I guess your dreams are a sort of meditation, right?"

"Right! They do show me things..though I don't understand half of it most of the time." Sora perked up at the response. He took the opportunity to admire Riku's side profile: the strong figure, his jawline..and he focused back down at the gravel beneath them. He ought to stop doing that, knowing how much Riku hated being stared at.

"Yeah, I do feel a strange connection to those dreams of yours..a pull I guess. And that pull lead me to you." Riku felt a heat rush to his cheeks as soon as he turned his head, and their eyes met. Why was this so familiar? "But, uh, it could just be a coincidence." He cleared his throat, looking towards the water instead.

"Well, maybe they'll be more concrete and give me actual answers now that I'm out in the real world, so I have to thank you." Sora dug his fingers into the gravel, feeling the small rocks slide against his fingers.

"Thank me? For dragging you into a world plagued by monsters. I've already shown you the tragedy and horrors, and you still want to thank me?" Riku was expecting anger or something of the like, curses of his name.

"I know it had to be done. Kairi, you, and me have a purpose here. We never would've realized that on our own without you. It may be scary, but I'm excited to see everything in this world." He swore Sora's smile was enough to blind someone.

"W-well, you're welcome. I'm..not used to people thanking me." There was that rush of heat to his face yet again. There was no way any sort of meditation was going to get done now.


	6. Chapter 6

The cold moonlight washed over Riku. The small lake in front of him shimmered like the night sky above. He had told Sora and Kairi to go to bed and not wait up for him. He'd be back eventually, needing to recharge his healing crystals as well as himself under the full moon. Feeling a familiar sensation on his left arm, he opened one eye to glance down at the symbol etched into his skin on the lower part of his bicep. In the moonlight, it glowed a faint pink. He had never known a day without, being born with it for whatever reason. His time before being found and taken in by Elf King Terra was fuzzy and fragmented. He had remembered some wizard saying it marked him as what he called a "dream eater."

"Your power as a dream eater could be an essential part to restoring this world to its proper balance. Light and darkness must exist in balance. You cannot have one without the other; however it is when one gains more power that the world can be thrown into chaos. The day will come, so be prepared," he had said before taking his leave. Damn wizards. Always walking in, saying some cryptic shit, then immediately leaving to leave the rest to everyone else. Riku grasped at some grass beneath him, throwing it towards the water. He torn up blades danced through the still night air, only rippling the surface of the water slightly. As Riku watched the ripple effects, he noticed something else there. He squinted in an attempt to focus, eyes widening when he saw a sinister grin along with two bright yellow eyes. He whipped around, nearly falling backwards into the lake in the process. One hand reached back and dug into the gravel. The tiny rocks scraped against his skin, making him wince slightly, but he didn't take his eyes off of someone far too familiar, someone he knew he would have to meet again, but not like this..not this soon.

"Vanitas," he said, more in a growl than anything else. He felt the pain of old injuries resurfacing just by looking at him.

"Well, well, the graceful Prince Riku himself. I thought I spied an elf basking in the moonlight." Vanitas' laugh was as hollow and cold as Riku remembered. He instinctively skidded back a bit as he stepped forward. His steps were deliberate and made almost no noise even against the gravel shore. "Careful now. That is, unless you want to go for a midnight swim."

"What do you want?" Riku went straight to the point. If given the opportunity, he knew Vanitas would banter with him all he wanted.

"I'm simply rounding up the runaways and bringing them back home is all. You, those two annoying twins, and even Axel has run off." He shook his head with a less than sincere expression of concern.

"Please, I was never 'with' you guys, and you know that. I was essentially a spy." It was a time Riku would rather forget.

"Let's get real here, Riku. You know you could've been so much more powerful with us. I was only tough on you because I liked you. We could've been something great: a force to be reckoned with along with the others." Vanitas knelt down in front of him, a bit too close for Riku's comfort. In one quick motion, he reached out to grab his chin. "You have everything in place. You have the little prince and princess right nearby. I'm sure all will be forgiven if you come back with me and deliver them to my father. With your dream eater abilities, we can find the other kingdoms and make this world ours."

"Heh, too bad your charms never worked on me." Riku grabbed onto his wrist with a force that was almost enough to crush it, ripping his hand away. With a deep breath, he got onto his feet, though he couldn't hide the way his legs trembled slightly. "Not now. Not ever, Vanitas. I'll never take them to Xehanort."

"Have it your way, Riku, but I'm at least taking you back there one way or the other. I wonder..what they'll think of you when they find out you used to be on our side, though." Vanitas let out a cackle. It echoed through the air, across the lake, and sending a chill down Riku's spine. "Just think of the drama. In fact, I'll wait a little while to drag you back just to see it. I'm on Ventus and Roxas' trail anyway." He continued to laugh, looking quite pleased with himself. Riku jumped as he was suddenly right next to him, clasping a hand onto his shoulder with an iron grip. "I can't wait to watch you struggle just like back then." Riku grit his teeth at the soft whisper by his ear. He was about to retaliate with a fist, but by the time he swung his arm, Vanitas was gone.

Riku's breath was ragged as he looked around wildly to make sure he was really gone. His legs finally just collapsed as he knelt on the ground. His fist collided with the gravel below. The impact of the stones against his knuckles sent a sharp pain through his arm, but in that moment, it didn't feel like much. He knew what Vanitas was doing always planting his seeds of doubt. Like hell he was going to go back there of his own volition. Gazing at the town, he could feel Sora sleeping soundly. There was a slight pang in his chest, knowing that Vanitas was right in that sooner or later, he'd have to tell them about his past. How would they take it? Would they hate him? He wouldn't blame them. After all, all he had to do was get them to his Elven kingdom, and they could part ways if need be. They might even be safer without him. Yet, he remembered the mural a seer had painted when he returned there after his time in Oblivion Kingdom. It was the strangest thing seeing himself depicted with Sora and Kairi, even with his new keyblade that hadn't even been forged yet. And Sora..it was like he sort of already knew him even after just meeting him in person. Would he really be able to just leave them even if it was for the best? He quickly shook his head, taking a moment before standing up. That could wait.

Going back to their room at the inn, Riku tread lightly to keep from waking either of them up. He peeked in slightly to be sure they were both asleep. Of course, he could hear snoring from both of them from outside the door. The most beds a room could offer was one big one and a smaller one. It was agreed that Kairi would get the lone bed while Sora and Riku would share the bigger one much to Riku's own embarrassment. He didn't dare take off much clothing, just his boots and jacket, leaving him in just his pants and tank top. Getting in the other side of the bed that Sora wasn't occupying, he realized how cold he had been, limbs shivering as he draped the covers over himself. For a moment, he lied on his side to admire Sora sleeping there. His brows furrowed every now and then as he dreamt, but the look on his face was serene. Riku could feel the serenity of his dreams, a soft smile on his face.

"You deserve the sweetest of dreams," he said in the softest of whispers. He reached over to brush his bangs out of his face in the gentlest way to not wake him up by accident. Riku himself knew his own dreams were probably not going to be as sweet, but knowing he needed sleep as much as them, he closed his eyes and drifted off.

As morning light shone into the room, Riku awoke to quite the surprise. Due to inevitability of them shifting around in their sleep, Riku opened his eyes to find Sora still sleeping soundly but curled up right by his side. The logical part of this made sense since he was another body providing warmth, but most of him was in a moment of panic. His body was completely frozen, not even daring to look at Sora. He kept his eyes glued to the ceiling above them, trying to find the right way to..well, wake him up. It didn't help that he spied Kairi sitting by the window with a ridiculous grin on her face.

"Sora's a pretty sound sleeper if you couldn't tell," she laughed, rather amused at Riku's predicament.

"Oh, you don't say?" Riku said through gritted teeth. He was about ready to just die right there when Sora hummed softly and nuzzled against him. "Would you mind helping me out, then?"

"I don't know. I think you're capable of waking him up yourself. I mean, you're right there." She mimicked Riku's own sarcastic tone. The two of them stared each other down for a moment until Riku gave in seeing that Kairi was definitely going to win this one. Riku half heartedly nudged Sora with his arm which had no results whatsoever. He watched as he just moved Sora a bit who continued to breathe softly. He bit the inside of his cheek as he tilted his head down towards his face. Riku's face was radiating heat onto Sora.

"Sora, it's time to get up," he said softly at first then again louder. To his relief, Sora scrunched his eyes until they slowly opened. Deep blue met bright topaz as they stared at each other for a moment before Sora finally realized the situation. His cheeks went scarlet, quicky pulling away his hand that had been resting on Riku's chest.

"Ah! G-good morning! Sorry. You must've come in while I was already asleep. I didn't mean to get so close to you," Sora sputtered, pulling away before he could say anything embarrassing. Kairi giggled to herself as she watched the two of them awkwardly pull away and start to get out of bed.

"D-don't worry about it. These things happen," Riku said quickly. He busied himself with getting his boots and jacket back on. That at least took his mind off the events of last night. He couldn't help but chuckle at the pouting flushed face of Sora's.

"Riku! Quit laughing at me! You too, Kairi." Sora stomped his foot once he had put his shoes on.

"Come on, Sora. It was like something straight out of a cheesy romance novel." Kairi walked over to pat his shoulder.

"Yeah, funny for you. Sorry again, Riku. I don't know if you have a special someone already, but if you do, I apologize to them too!" Sora immediately bowed. It was easy to forget that Riku was a prince. He was probably betrothed to some princess or something. He was..handsome to say the least.

"It's alright, Sora. I'm single, so no big deal," Riku said with a shrug. He still felt his heart beating rapidly in his chest.

"Woah, you look like that, and you're single?" Riku nearly burst out laughing at Sora's genuine look of surprise.

"It can happen, Sora. I think Riku needs to work on his sarcasm if he's ever going to not be single," Kairi jabbed, slinging on her backpack.

Riku simply rolled his eyes and slung his keyblade in its scabbard across his back. For now, letting them in on the truth could wait until they reached their destination. He could only hope that Vanitas wouldn't show up again. That's all he could do was hope. Sora and Kairi were still bright eyed and ready to go. That's all that mattered right now.


	7. Chapter 7

Riku gave Sora and Kairi some time to get their own food. He stood on watch on the edge of town munching on his own rations he had brought with him. It didn't have the most pleasant taste, but it filled his stomach at least. There was someone or something out there. There was the unnerving feeling of being watched that he just couldn't shake. His eyes scanned the horizon, but even with his enhanced vision, he couldn't spot anything out of the ordinary. He bit the inside of his cheek in concentration, ears twitching at every sound. Sora and Kairi found him like this still as they walked up. His posture was completely upright and rigid, the hairs on his neck standing on end much like a cat scanning an area for danger. He only acknowledged them with a nod, continuing his search.

"What's up, Riku? Do you see something?" Sora asked. He walked over to stand by his side, peering in the same direction Riku was so fixated on. He supposed without the same sharp vision Riku had, he probably wasn't going to see much.

"We're being watched. I can feel it, but I can't find any trace of them. It's not much of a problem for now, but I can't have someone spying on us while I open the gate to the Elven realm. It's a well kept secret that I don't want the enemy to know about." Riku already had an inkling on what their next plan of attack was. There was no way he was unwittingly letting the enemy into his kingdom.

"Well, maybe they'll come out eventually if they're after us. I'm sure we'll run into them eventually. I mean, you have like super senses. They can't hide forever," Sora said, hoping to put him at ease at least a little bit.

"I can't afford to relax or let up my guard. Not until we make it there."

"Sounds like someone needs a dip in a hot spring or something. Loosen your tight ass up a bit," Kairi chimed in with a slap on his back. "Come on, we're not going to get anywhere if we keep worrying. We'll deal with it when it comes up."

Looks of shock were plastered on both Riku and Sora.

"Wow. I didn't think you were capable of language like that." Riku let out a chuckle, relaxing his shoulders some.

"Please, someone has to keep you boys in line."

The three of them turned their heads at the sound of hoofbeats getting extremely close. They were off the road, so they shouldn't be in the way of any horses. On an immaculately white horse, an elf with blue hair was riding towards them. The horse slowed to a trot before stopping right by them. At this being only the second elf Sora and Kairi had seen, they both stared wide eyed at her. With style and grace, she dismounted, smiling softly at both of them.

"Prince Riku," she finally said with a bow, turning to him.

"Aqua," Riku said back, returning the bow.

Sora and Kairi glanced between them multiple times, still lost in amazement.

"Wow, she's so pretty!" Kairi whispered to Sora. She watched as Aqua walked up to Riku so they could converse in a more quiet, personal manner.

"You think he was lying about being single?"

"I think they just have important stuff to discuss. Besides, I have my own suspicions on Riku." Kairi wore a devious smirk.

"Like what?"

"I'll tell you later." It probably wasn't best to gossip about him when he was literally standing right there.

"Por o aelylaes si aelaestia or?"

"Or, Vanitas. Maes si'vi mor tylol thysas shor saes val."

"Pai si cyrn?" Aqua gestured to Sora and Kairi.

"Bai, ail pia sosti. Si shor."

The two of them conversed quietly in Elvish, leaving the two humans quite confused when Aqua gestured towards them. Sora vowed to himself he'd learn their language some way, some how. He hated being out of the loop.

"Shi mari, tia voli. Shi eirdar o eir cysti." Aqua reached out to grasp onto Riku's forearm with him doing the same: a traditional customary gesture between elves.

"I apologize. You both probably didn't understand a word, but we mostly converse in Elvish so messages aren't overheard by the enemy. I'm Aqua." She took the time to walk over and shake their hands. "The king is excited to meet you both. I trust the prince has treated you well." She shot Riku a look which he met with a stare of his own.

"He can be a bit much sometimes, but he's kept us safe, or I guess it's more like the three of us protecting each other," Kairi said since Sora was too flustered at the moment.

"I'm glad to hear that. I'll see you in the Elven realm, then. Be safe all of you." She turned back to Riku and pointed to the other horse she had along with the white one. "Ai shyl ei cysi, mai iari air."

"Or, tas," Riku said with a sigh. They waved goodbye as she hopped back on her horse, giving a wave before riding off.

"Geez, I couldn't even say a word," Sora whined, getting back to his senses.

"Don't get any ideas. She's like way older than you." Riku teasingly elbowed him as he passed by.

"It's not like that, jerk! I just get starstruck around beautiful people, plus she's only the second elf I've met."

"You seem rather comfortable around me."

"That's beside the point! It's..different with you..I guess." Sora knew he definitely couldn't hide the slight blush on his face, instantly covering his cheeks with his hands.

"Well, whatever. Kairi's right. We'll deal with the spy when the time is right. We should get going." Riku took note of the blush, going over towards the horse. She was a beautiful mare with a gray speckled coat, definitely from his home. He helped the two of them up onto the saddle first. Sora squirmed around like nothing else when Riku's hands grabbed onto his waist, but he managed to get him up there.

"Geez, do you ever stop moving around?"

"Nope, never."

Riku took the reins at the front of the saddle, adjusting himself. Kairi had no problems with hanging onto Sora. Sora, on the other hand, felt his hands becoming sweaty at the mere thought of having to hang onto Riku. Riku glanced back at him, not really phased by this sort of thing since it was needed to keep them from falling off.

"We're going to be riding fast, so you need to hang onto something." There was just the slightest smirk on his face.

"Yeah, yeah, I know. Just give me a second." With a deep breath, he finally mustered up the courage to wrap his arms around Riku's waist, thankful that Riku was at least turned around and couldn't see him. It really didn't help that as soon as Riku had the horse move forward, Sora could feel his abs tighten.

Once they were well out of town, Riku eased the horse into a gallop. Riding on a horse was the closest he could get to flying, and he had missed this feeling. He smiled at the feeling of the wind on his hair, pushing down any feelings of Sora squeezing his waist just to stay on. The scenery flew by them at the rapid pace. The green fields and lake in the distance looked more like blurry oil painting. If he was riding by himself, he'd have stretched his arms out and enjoyed the rush, but it was probably best to keep his hands on the reins. To be honest, his plan had been to get a horse somehow, but Aqua made that step even easier, always being a step ahead.

By the time he finally stopped the horse for a little break, all of their hair was wild and windswept. The horse automatically went to a small nearby pond as the three of them got their bearings of being back on the ground again, fixing their hair. The clearing was filled with varieties of wildflowers that painted the ground with all kinds of colors. Near the pond, a chorus of frogs sang along with other ambient sounds of nature.

"That was so fun! I've never been on a horse before, but it's such a thrill," Kairi said, fixing her skirt. She had no idea they could go that fast.

"Y-yeah, it was great," Sora stammered, still feeling his heart beating rapidly.

"I'm glad you enjoyed yourselves. She should get us to our destination a lot faster, and we can hopefully avoid most of the heartless. With that being the case, I think this break would be a good time for some more training." Riku fanned himself in the heat of the sun, deciding to slip his jacket off after unlatching his scabbard, giving them both a view at being in just his tank top again.

"Aw, are you serious? Can't we just rest for once?" Sora sighed, though the view was nice.

"Our enemies won't rest. I can guarantee that. Besides, don't you want the satisfaction of finally being able to beat me?" Riku wagged a finger for him to come at him before going into a fighting stance. "I gotta get you stronger. I already know Kairi can kick my ass."

"I'll show you what I can do..pes sher!" Sora grinned triumphantly at remembering Riku calling him that.

"You need to work on your Elvish pronunciations," Riku chided but with a playful smirk as he suddenly rushed at Sora. It was an intimidating image to say the least: seeing a buff elf come running at him with fists balled up. He noticed that Riku kept one hand open and the other in a fist. Maybe the open hand was for guarding? In any case, Sora mirrored it and immediately stepped back to keep his distance. Kairi nonchalantly walked over to a nearby tree, sitting beneath it to watch them. In terms of brute strength, Riku had the upper hand, but Sora had uncanny agility if he learned how to utilize it. For a while, he was doing quite well for a while, mostly jumping around Riku and his attacks until he slipped up as his foot caught on a rock. It allowed Riku to grab one of his arms and effectively pin him to the ground with his weight. Riku had this in the bag now, until he looked right at Sora and felt a rush of embarrassment as they both stared at each other. He loosened his grip without realizing it. Sora, on the other hand, took full advantage of the moment of weakness, freeing his leg and landing a kick right into his crotch since it was the closest weak point. A gargled whine escaped his throat. The pain was paralyzing, and he was soon off of Sora and curled up on the ground.

"Ugh, how could you?" he groaned, glaring right at Sora for a moment.

"What can I say? You left yourself wide open. I did what I had to do," Sora chuckled with made up sympathy in his voice.

"Fine, good job." It took Riku a few moments to finally stand up again, though he stood a bit awkwardly. "I guess if we run into an enemy, I can count on you to simply defeat them by kicking them in the crotch."

"You can count on me!"

"Great. Now, to make up for kicking me there, you can jump on those rocks in the pond without falling into the water." Sora looked between said rocks which were slightly submerged and Riku.

"Whaaat? You can't be serious?"

"Please. With your agility, you should be just fine." With a pout, Sora begrudgingly did as he asked. Riku sat down under the tree where Kairi was, still feeling rather sore down there. Still, that smile of Sora's was contagious. Riku found it plastered on his own face as he watched him hop around the rocks, trying his best not to fall into the water. The movements resulted in ripples cascading out along the smooth surface, disturbing the still reflections.


	8. Chapter 8

Even as they neared their destination, Riku still couldn't shake the feeling of being watched. This would have to be dealt with before he took Sora and Kairi to the hidden gates. There was no way he could risk the enemy finding where the gates were. For now, the journey was going as he expected. They would run into Heartless every now and then, but from the training during breaks, the three of them dealt with them quickly and efficiently. However, he noticed from time to time, another type of monster whose presence was unnerving to say the least: the Unversed as they were commonly called. It seemed Vanitas wasn't done with his meddling. Even now, his words echoed coldly in Riku's mind: "What will they think of you when they find out what side you used to be on? I hear even your own people still don't fully trust you." Riku's knuckles turned white as he gripped onto the reins with enough force that the rough leather was starting to cut into his skin through his gloves. Could he just fuck off already and go after the twins? Riku had faith that they had found their way to a safe spot.

"Are we still being followed, Riku?" He jumped a bit when he heard Sora's voice right by his ear, momentarily forgetting that Sora was currently latched onto him as they rode.

"Uh, yes. Don't worry. We'll figure out a way to draw them out. We'll be at another village soon. We can come up with a game plan then."

"We better be close. I'm starving," Kairi whined from the back.

"Hey, I offered my rations for you to eat in the meantime," Riku snapped back. The lack of sleep probably wasn't helping his own mood.

"No offence, Riku, but your elf rations have no flavor."

"They're not meant to be tasty. They're meant to fill your stomach, so you don't get hungry, but whatever, you can stuff your face when we're in town."

As they travelled, the grand mountains in the distance grew closer and closer. Home was close. Now, they were finally nearing the foot of the mountains. Rocky cliff faces began to jut out of the ground, incline slowly increasing. The town they were heading to was surrounded by steep cliffs that wrapped around it. Due to the close proximity to the mountains, fog was a common phenomena, especially in the early morning or late evening. Riku was thankful for the lanterns lighting the way as they ran straight into what looked like a wall of fog. Even with his sharp vision, Riku squinted as he tried to keep track of the path, following the soft glow of the lanterns. All was dim around them until they began to come upon the town. The light ahead grew stronger and stronger. He slowed the horse down to a trot. Going through the gates, it was like jumping suddenly from dreaming to waking. The air was crystal clear, free of fog as they entered the town. The sudden appearance of a horse certainly gave the two guards by the gate quite a scare. They studied the group suspiciously until Riku showed his amulet.

"Ah, the Elven Prince! Welcome!" At the sudden realization, they saluted right away.

"Tell me, have you seen anyone suspicious pass through here?" Riku asked with the feeling still crawling all over his back.

"Suspicious? We haven't seen anyone out of the ordinary. You don't need to worry about Heartless or Oblivion's adversaries being here. We've been keeping watch since dusk."

"Alright, thank you. We're simply passing through." Riku nodded, about to ease the horse forward.

"Oh, are you going to stay for the festival? It's going on tonight, and I'm sure the people here would love it if the Elf Prince attended. Trade with your people has been prosperous for this place. We're very grateful."

"A festival?" He glanced back at Sora and Kairi. He supposed they deserved a break of some sort that didn't involve training. "Alright, sure. There's something I need to take care of before leaving for my home anyway."  
"Really, Riku?" He could feel Sora bouncing up and down excitedly behind him. The horse grunted in annoyance at the movement.

"Yeah, you guys can go have fun. Let's secure a room at an inn first, though."

Riku found a suitable stable for the horse. He smiled softly as he gently pet her snout.

"Thank you for getting us here safely. Aqua never mentioned if you had a name, but I'll come up with one for you...but you can probably understand Elvish, better, huh? Mes ei kyr cysi." The horse seemed to react to the Elvish words, pushing her snout against Riku.

Riku's ears twitched at the sound of Sora and Kairi laughing. He turned to see them standing right there in full view of the scene.

"Sh-shut it already. Us elves have deep connections with our companions," he said, face fully flushed. "Will you two just go out and have fun or whatever. I'll meet up with you once I get us a room." Riku promptly stormed off towards the inn. The look on his face alone made people get out of his way.

"Wow, I guess even Riku has a soft side." Sora watched him trudge off with a smile on his lips. Kairi studied him for a moment with a slight smirk. She guided him by his shoulders off towards the main festival.

The town was alive with lights everywhere: along the roads, strewn across the buildings. In the center of town, a raging bonfire roared into the night sky with flecks of fiery embers floating towards the stars. Sora and Kairi, who had never experienced anything like this, or at least didn't remember it, were in awe, running excitedly to different vendors. They first took care of getting food, watching as people danced gracefully around the fire. Sora found himself looking around for Riku. How long could getting a room at an inn possibly take? He noticed Kairi stand up when another dance was starting.

"May I have this dance?" she chuckled, offering Sora a hand. "You know Riku. He's probably off 'investigating' or whatever."

"Yeah, you're probably right."

Sora happily took her hand, letting her lead him over towards where everyone else was. The two of them knew very little about formal dancing things, so they simply copied how the other pairs were doing it, holding hands and moving around however they wanted. The rapid tempo of the small band kept them quick on their feet. Shadows cast outwards on the cobblestone below by the fire moved about. Though they had started to become winded, the two continued to dance, laughing whenever one of them stepped on the other's feet or bumped into another pair. Sora laughed nervously when he glanced around to see they were the only two dancing while everyone else stood around and clapped. With a smile of encouragement from Kairi, they continued until the music ended, leaving them both panting with a chorus of applause.

"Haha, I didn't think we were that good, but I guess it's just about having fun, right?" Sora laughed while he attempted to catch his breath.

"Yeah, I totally had fun."

Sora gave her a look when he noticed that she seemed distracted. It looked like she was staring somewhere over towards the fire. Over to the right, there was a lone girl who looked to be around the same stature as Kairi. The soft glow of the flames shone orange against her short, dark hair. With the bit of armor she was wearing along with what looked like a sword in its scabbard or a possible keyblade, she had to be a warrior of some sort.

"See something you like?" Sora teased, snapping her out of her trance.

"Huh? Oh, uh, I don't know. I just noticed her." She playfully pushed Sora, sticking her tongue out.

"Well, why don't you go talk to her? It looks like she's all by herself. I should probably go see what Riku's doing," Sora suggested nonchalantly. Kairi looked like he had just given her the worst news ever.

"What? I mean, I can't just go talk to some stranger.."

"Come on. It's a festival. Random people talking to each other is probably the norm. It won't hurt anybody. Maybe you'll make her night better."

"Let me guess..you just want to be alone with Riku, don't you?" Now it was Kairi's turn to wear a smirk. "'Oh, Riku~ We're finally alooone together.'" She proceeded to make smooching sounds, turning Sora bright red.

"N-no way! I just want him to have some festival fun too! A-anyway, I dare you to talk to that girl, maybe even dance with her. Bye!"

Sora promptly left before Kairi could embarrass him any further, even breaking into a run towards the vendors.

Kairi chuckled to herself, quite pleased at the reaction. Just the thought of approaching her was making her heart pound, feeling the pulse through her whole body.

"Alright, you can do this. She's just another girl, like you. No big deal," she said to herself. With a deep breath, she willed her legs to start moving, taking a meandering route towards her. Even as she drew closer, it didn't seem like she had noticed Kairi yet, wholly focused on the flames of the fire. It wasn't until Kairi walked over and cleared her throat that the other visibly jumped, whipping around to face her.

"S-sorry to scare you! I'm Kairi. I, um, just saw you standing all alone over here and thought I'd keep you company. Truth be told, my friend dared me to talk to you..not that I don't want to talk to you!" It was like the words were just spilling out of her mouth, and she had to cover her mouth to keep from rambling on further. The other girl cocked her head to the side. Her dark eyes were cold at first, studying Kairi carefully but soon softened some.

"Oh, I see. I am here by myself. It's cold out, so I decided to hang out by the fire. And I'm Xion," she said, speaking carefully in a soft voice. Given the situation, she still remained guarded in her stance.

Sora ran into Riku as he was going down the vendors street. Quite literally since he quickly rounded a corner and smacked his face right into his chest.

"Oh, hey, sorry I took so long." Riku did his best to play it cool, rubbing the back of his neck. "We're here, yet the strange feeling that's been haunting me all this time is stronger in this place for some reason."

"Still on edge, huh? Maybe we should do something fun to help you relax." Sora twiddled his thumbs as he looked around to figure out what that something was going to be. His eyes lit up when they landed on a game booth. It seemed to be a game where you tossed a ball at some bottles to knock them over. "Ooh! Let's do that!"

Riku smiled softly at him when Sora wasn't looking, following after him. He bought Sora one game with three balls. Why he felt so good buying stuff for him was beyond him. Sora held the ball in his hand, rubbing his fingers over the rough surface and testing the weight of it. With a look of determination, he stuck his tongue out slightly in concentration before throwing it towards the bottles. He aimed a bit too high, knocking over the top two with a clink as they hit the floor. The others had wobbled slightly but stayed in place. From the look of it, the bottom ones seemed much sturdier and more difficult to knock over. He should've figured it was rigged somehow. Even though he fully knew well he could do it himself, he turned to Riku, giving him the sweetest look he was capable of.

"Rikuuu, could you get the rest of them?"

"Why? You still have two balls left. You can totally get the rest yourself." Riku pursed his lips at the cute look.

"Please? You're the one with the beefy arms, and you paid for it, so you should get a whack at it too."

"Fine, whatever. If that'll make you happy." With a sigh of defeat, he took the ball from Sora, ignoring that look of triumphant satisfaction from him. Doing the opposite of Sora, Riku aimed it towards the bottom bottles, throwing it with a decent amount of force. The booth was filled with the sound of clinking bottles as they all toppled to the floor with the loss of the foundational bottom ones. Sora bounced up and down in excitement, jumping to hug Riku briefly without even thinking.

"Y-you can choose the prize, okay? I definitely don't need it," Riku said quickly, feeling a rush of heat to his face.

Sora furrowed his eyebrows, looking over his choices. After about a minute, he finally decided on a plush bat creature, waving it around happily.

"Thanks, Riku!" He was practically beaming at this point.

"Y-yup, no problem." Riku felt like he was going to pass out just from looking at him. "Why don't you take me to Kairi. I shouldn't leave either of you alone for too long."

Sora hugged the bat plushie close to his chest as he led Riku down the street towards where the dancing was. As they approached, he saw Kairi and the lone girl dancing together as the band was back to playing music.

"Hey, she's actually dancing with her. I guess she took my dare seriously," Sora chuckled, watching them with a happy grin.

Riku, on the other hand, froze in place when he saw the other girl. His whole body tensed up as his senses had finally pinpointed the source of the weird feeling: the feeling of being watched.

"Sora, stand back," he said in a low voice. He readied his hand on the handle of his keyblade in its scabbard.

"Huh? What's with you?" His breathing grew shallow as he saw that Riku was completely serious.

"I finally found the spy. She's the enemy that's been following us."

Sora glanced quickly between Riku and the girl Kairi was dancing with. It couldn't possibly be..Riku had to be wrong, right? There wasn't much he could do to stop Riku from suddenly lunging forward with all his strength, eyes sharp and deadly.


	9. Chapter 9

Riku's keyblade clashed with Xion's sword with a clang. He had run up on her with all his strength, knocking her back. Her boots skidded against the dirt below, a small cloud of dust rising up from the shift. Riku's eyes were wide and wild, completely focused on his opponent.

"So, they sent you. Not a bad idea considering how well you can blend in," he said through gritted teeth. Her strength always surprised him. Given his own size, Riku should've easily been able to knock her down, but Xion kept a steady guard.

"Hello again, Riku. I see you forged a new keyblade." Her eyes glanced from it back to Riku. The keyblade and the sword shook due to the sheer force being applied to them. "Look, you should just make this easier on yourself and them." She gestured to Sora and Kairi who were still in a slight state of shock.

"You've gotta be kidding me. I would _never _willingly go back there again. I learned my lesson. Why are you even still with them? You know they only see you as a pawn, a tool. They don't care about you. As soon as you aren't useful, they'll discard you like yesterday's trash."

That certainly struck a nerve. Xion practically growled as she shoved him back. Riku recovered quickly, keeping his keyblade up and ready to defend.

"Shut up! I'm not a tool! If anything, you were the tool, and then you..you took Roxas away!" She bolted forward, dealing quick strikes at Riku that he barely managed to block, following her movements.

"Took him away? Ha! He went with me willingly. I can only hope him and Ventus had enough sense to go somewhere safe." Riku chanced a glance at Sora and Kairi. They probably had no idea what they were talking about thankfully.

The best outcome for this was to knock her out. He could take her with them, and Terra can figure out what to do with her. He couldn't risk anything too violent..not with the other two right there. "Face it, Xion. No one wants to be with you." It pained him slightly to say it, but he needed to royally piss her off. Overwhelming emotions meant less focus for her, and he could take care of this easily.

The sound that came out of her was like some sort of piercing banshee scream as she rushed at Riku. Keeping his focus, Riku stayed on the defensive. Xion's now erratic movements were difficult to track. She was constantly moving around. The blade of her sword sliced into Riku's arms a few times. Tiny streams of blood snaked down his arms, soaking into the fabric of his shirt. Through the slight stinging pain, Riku took a wide swing with his keyblade, lunging forward with it in a wide arc. The point of it, brushed past Xion's cheek, enough to draw blood. Taking advantage of the distraction, he ducked under her next blow with a solid smack to the back of her head. In the next few seconds, Xion was down on the ground, moving her arms around in an attempt to get up before slipping out of consciousness.

Instead of feeling relief, Riku was met by a slap on his face that nearly made him fall over. A very pissed off looking Kairi was staring daggers up at him. Her hand was still up but this time in a fist. Riku immediately backed up when it looked like she was about to slug him, holding his cheek.

"Hey, hey, whoa! Just settled down, okay?" Riku was still panting heavily from the fight with Xion, arms slightly red from his own blood.

"I just danced with her, and she was really nice!"

"She was going to attack me," Riku said back, though he backed up a few steps.

"You attacked her first! She was just defending herself, you dick." Sora finally snapped out of his own daze and quickly held Kairi back.

"Hey, let's just let him explain first. Arguing with each other isn't going to solve anything." The other festival goers had cowered away into the nearby buildings when the fight first broke out. Now, a few of them had wandered back outside, still keeping their distance.

"Kairi, she's the spy that's been following us. She's on the enemy's side. She may seem innocent and nice, but she's still an adversary," Riku said after taking a few calming breaths. He winced as he was starting to feel the damage his body had taken.

"You guys talked..like you knew each other. Do you know her, Riku?" Sora looked to him, but to Riku, it was like his gaze was piercing right through him. His bottom lip shook slightly stopped by him biting it.

"All..all I can say is that I'll explain everything once we get to the Elven kingdom. It's just too much to go through right now. I know you have questions about..well, everything, but it's just too much to go through right now." Riku's voice was quiet, drawn back. He peered over at Xion with a look of scorn. She just had to show up and bring up old stuff.

"Alright..sorry I hit you," Kairi mumbled with an obvious pout, though she attempted to hide it with her hair. "But you better explain everything when we get there. Sora and I hardly know anything of what's happening in the world, you know."

"It's okay. I might've deserved it. I taunted her when I could've just went in to knock her out sooner," Riku sighed, rubbing the back of his head.

As soon as Sora noticed the blood, he immediately rushed over to Riku. With the gentlest touch, he looked over his arms, moving the sleeve from his gloves that went up to the top of his forearms.

"Never mind that, you're hurt! We gotta take care of this." Sora's brows were furrowed in worry, checking him over more.

Riku's breath caught in his throat at just the feeling of Sora touching him. His hands were warm and soft and..he was not going to complete that thought.

"I have..healing crystals..it's fine." The words came out more disjointed than an actual sentence.

"Hold on, before you guys go have your..'boy time.' What are we going to do with her?" Kairi gestured to the unconscious Xion on the ground. She wore a look of pity at just seeing her like that. It seemed like only a moment ago they were both smiling and dancing.

"That's what this is for." Riku dug around in one of his pockets, pulling out a small, scarlet crystal. It almost seemed to glow in the light of the fire with Elven symbols branded onto it. "This is a crystal of binding sleep. When I tie this to her forehead, it'll keep her in a state of sleep until it's removed. We can take her to my home without fear that she'll wake up and escape." Riku pulled out some twine and knelt down, gently turning Xion onto her back. With careful hands, he wrapped the twine around her head, securely tying the crystal to her forehead. Part of him hoped that maybe there was a slim chance they could get her away from Xehanort and the others. She deserved to be more than just a mere tool. With a grunt, Riku picked her up and carried her over his shoulder.

"Come on, let's go back to the inn. I think I've scared this town enough already."

When they arrived back at the inn, Riku carefully lowered Xion down onto Kairi's bed for the time being. Kairi suggested that she would go get some food, looking from Sora to Riku with a wink before promptly leaving. Riku watched her go with a gulp but was soon led over to the empty bed.

"Now, sit down and show me how to use your crystals." Sora's command alone was enough to make him sit down, fumbling the crystals in his hands. "Uh, you just press them against wounds, and they do the rest of the work."

"Great. Sounds simple enough, now, take off your shirt," Sora said with an absolutely serious expression on his face.

"E-excuse me?" The crystals nearly fell right out of his hands and toppled onto the floor.

"You heard me. So I can see all the areas you got cut." Sora wore a rather innocent smile, but Riku _knew _there was something else behind it. He finally sighed in defeat, beginning to slip off his gloves. There was no way he'd resist those big eyes.

Taking off his gloves, it showed the various marks on his hands from years of handling a keyblade. Lastly, he slowly pulled off his tank top. He felt a rush of cold air in the room brush past his bare torso. The slashes from Xion's sword were mostly along his arms from guarding with them, but a few here and there cut into his sides. Sora indulged in taking a moment to just look him over: broad shoulders, lean, compact muscles, and of course those arms. He cleared his throat when he made eye contact with Riku. He remembered when they first met: Riku probably would've smacked him for staring at him for too long. Riku's chest rose and fell in shallow breaths. He was nervous..which was actually kind of cute. Sora put him out of his misery, taking the crystals from him and taking a seat next to him. With his face feeling like it was going to burn off, Riku focused his gaze to the side. He felt like he was going to die if he made eye contact with Sora with him RIGHT there.

With a steady hand, Sora pressed the crystal to the first wound. It immediately glowed a pale blue. It reminded Sora of the light of the moon in a way. Surely enough, when it went dim again, the wound was nearly gone.

"It works well for shallow wounds. Deeper ones obviously take more time." Riku finally spoke up after moments of silence. He took a few deep breaths, slowly relaxing as he grew used to Sora sitting there. He tried his best to suppress a little squeak when he felt a warm hand slowly glide down his back until he realized Sora was simply rubbing his back.

"Hey, Riku, what's the Elvish word for love?" Sora hadn't forgotten about asking Riku to teach him Elvish.

"Uh..weird word to ask for out of the blue..it's jhyli. Though there can be different variations depending on the type of love." Talking was at least helping his nerves somewhat.

"Jhyli..man, you make all the words sound so nice and poignant. Guess I gotta work on that." Sora grinned as he finished up with the last cut. "Jhyli, Riku and Kairi."

"Man, that's a rough way of putting it. Try saying: Ai jhyli, Riku and Kairi."

"Ai jhyli, Riku and Kairi. Is that better, teacher?" Sora teased, sticking his tongue out at him.

"Yes, much better," Riku laughed. His shoulders slumped down as he started to relax more. The back rub was..actually pretty nice. He felt like he was absorbing all the warmth from Sora's hand.

"Say, Riku. There was something I was wondering about. I know there are things about you that you don't want to tell us yet but..Xion was using a sword, so I guess not everyone uses keyblades, then?" He couldn't remember for the life of him how he ended up with his. He simply woke up, and it was..there.

"Forging keyblades is a long and difficult process. You have to put your whole heart into it, and you usually study under a master first. Forging my current keyblade took a lot of time, but all that time and energy I poured into it just makes it stronger." He knew Sora probably wanted answers to his own past, but he doubted if anyone at home would know anything of the lost memories of those within the sleeping kingdoms.

"Oh, I see. Well, thank you. That at least gives me some insight even if it's just a tiny bit."

Kairi returned soon after with dinner. She glanced between the two, noticing Riku was now without a shirt. She simply shrugged and winked at them before placing the food down at the table.

"You guys move fast."

"I-it's not like that, Kairi! I was just helping him heal his injuries," Sora said quickly, turning as bright red as Riku.

The rest of the journey wasn't too much farther. Riku took them through a narrow pass in the Lucid Mountains. It was a treacherous, winding path that zigzagged up a peak and over the other side. The forest grew thick with jagged branches and brambles. The three of them took turns carrying Xion when one got too tired. Though they had the spy, Riku still remained on high alert, always listening and watching the shadows. As they drew further north, the air only grew colder. Once out of the mountains, they came to a forest ablaze with the colors of autumn in shades of orange and red. Sora and Kairi looked around in amazement, having never seen colors on trees like these before..or at least not that they could remember.

"This is the land of the elves: my home." Riku led them through the trees, seeming to know exactly where he was going despite there being no path. They both stopped besides him when he brought them to massive gates hidden in an exposed rock face. It was faint, but there were Elvish letters carved into the rock. Riku was nearly home again. All he needed was to say the right words.


	10. Chapter 10

The doors hidden within the rock face glowed a brilliant blue soon after Riku spoke a string of Elven words. Rather used to seeing things like that, Riku casually walked up, pushing the doors open. He glanced back when he didn't hear footsteps behind him to see Sora and Kairi still rather awestruck.

"Well, come on, let's go before the magic fades," he said, motioning them to follow with his finger.

As they followed Riku inside, they both jumped as the doors suddenly closed behind them, making the horse whinny. The sound rumbled and reverberated through the stone wall, getting fainter as it moved away, echoing off the mountains. They were met by a hall of trees perfectly lining a path. The branches overhead wove together creating a terrace like canopy and allowed some of the faint moonlight in. Sora had been expecting some kind of grand place full of trees and Elven architecture, and well, elves of course! However, as they drew closer to the main center, it was..a lot smaller than he'd imagine the Elven kingdom to be. They went past a small, village like residential area, heading towards a tower that was the highest building there. A few elves walked amongst the trees, turning their way and immediately bowing when they spotted Riku, though Sora noticed that not all of them showed reverence.

"Hey, Riku..don't take this the wrong way, but is this it? This place seems really small," Sora whispered once he caught up to him.

"This isn't our original home. It is simply a retreat, a safe place." Sora and Kairi both jumped at the new voice that definitely wasn't Riku's. Riku simply turned towards an elf that walked up from the trees. A red scarf wrapped around his neck hid the bottom half of his face, carrying a sword on his back that was..intimidating to say the least.

"I thought you'd hear us coming, Cloud." Sora and Kairi seemed to relax some seeing that Riku knew him, though they still stuck close behind him.

"Seems your mission was successful. Did you have any run ins with the enemy at all?" He glanced at the unconscious Xion being carried on the horse. "Well, guess that answers my question."

"Well, since you're here." Riku carefully picked up Xion and handed her to Cloud. "Could you take her to the healers. I have her under binding sleep, so there should be no trouble."

"I suppose, but why all the trouble to save her?" Cloud begrudgingly carried her. He gave him a look that was "you're lucky you're the prince."

"Because I consider her a friend, and I know she probably isn't on their side willingly," Kairi interjected. Mustering some courage, she stood right in between Riku and Cloud, crossing her arms to give off more intimidation.

"Hmph, whatever. I'll take your word for it. O myr kaer saes sai si toradaer." He turned to Riku as he spoke in Elvish and took his leave. Sora noticed he heard only the faintest sound of footsteps as he walked.

"Well, he could've been nicer about it," Kairi said with a huff.

"Don't mind him. Let's keep going. My mission isn't done until you're both safe in the citadel." Riku had to admit, he was a bit sad for this little adventure to be over. He was even starting to get attached to them..maybe just a bit.

As they kept going, Sora felt a weight in his stomach, remembering what Cloud had briefly said about this not being the original kingdom. If that was the case, what had happened? Is this really all that was left of the elves? Now that they were here, he needed to find out the truth from Riku once and for all.

As they neared the small citadel, Sora noticed Aqua standing by the entrance, remembering her from before.

"Riku, how do you say hi in Elvish?" he quickly asked while they were still far away.

"Caelai." It was difficult to be annoyed when Sora gave him such a cute face whenever he asked.

"Caelai, Aqua!" Sora shouted seconds after Riku told him the word.

Aqua laughed whimsically, waving at them. "Caelai, Sora, Kairi. Welcome to the new Elven Kingdom." She beckoned them to follow her inside. Riku walked alongside her, both of them conversing quietly.

"Oli si'vi pyli shor Terra, saji Sora eil Kairi sai si taestysia tastaes."

"Eir o shor."

"They're talking about us," Sora whispered to Kairi, still wishing he was able to understand them.

"I'm sure they'll fill us in eventually. If not, you know I'll get answers from Riku." She wore a cunning grin, bumping her fist against her other hand.

"You know you can be pretty intimidating sometimes, Kairi." Sora followed it up with a nervous chuckle. "But, I have a lot of questions for him too."

The center room was open air with an opening up on the roof, revealing the full moon high in the sky. A gentle breeze wafted in through the narrow gaps that lined the walls of the spherical room. The architecture was incredible with walls that seemed to spiral up towards the top of the tower gilded in gold and crystal. In the middle of the floor was a large, pale crystal that reflected the moon's light in a rainbow of colors. Sora recalled Riku teaching him a few of the main crystals they used. This must've been a moonstone.

"Welcome, Sora and Kairi." They both stood up straight at the sudden voice, seeing a young man standing by the moonstone. At the sound of elf king, Sora had expected some intimidating, important elf, but this guy seemed kind and warm at least from the looks of him. Small braids were woven in his dark brown hair. As they walked closer, he noticed a few scars etched onto his face: he had seen battle that was for sure. "You can just call me Terra. No need for formalities."

"Terra, then, so why exactly were we brought here? Riku was..a bit vague about it," Kairi spoke up.

"Right, we can tell you everything now that you're somewhere safe. We wanted to start rescuing those in the sleeping kingdoms before Xehanort had a chance to. Where you were before, it may have seemed like a safe place at least from the monsters, but the followers of Xehanort could still very well infiltrate it, so we sent Riku as soon as possible. Thank you for getting them here safely. Is the new keyblade working out well?" He turned to Riku who acknowledged him with a nod.

"My mission is done. I'll rest for a bit and continue on to the next kingdom. Should be Twilight Realm, right?" Riku's voice had changed some from the kinder voice he used to talk to Sora, much more down to business.

"Yeah, but there's no need to rush. Take some time to yourself." Terra dismissed him with a nod.

As Riku turned to leave, he stopped when Sora suddenly called out his name. "Wait, Riku! We're not just going to part ways here, are we?"

"You'll see all the answers you're searching for..about me..about all that's going on. I'm just going to get some rest." He kept his back turned to them and kept on walking down a hall to the side.

"Riku.." Sora reached out as if that was going to stop him, watching him disappear around the corner.

"You said this was the 'new kingdom.' What happened to the old one?" Kairi spoke up, figuring right now it was best to get some answers.

"Yes, our numbers used to be great, but you've probably noticed that this doesn't look much like a kingdom." Terra placed a hand over his heart, eyes cast down towards the ground. The shimmering moonstone glimmered in his blue eyes. "In the Hall of Memories, you will see the events that have led up to the present, but I'll go over it briefly. In the past, elves had always been closer to magic and nature. With that knowledge, we were able to forge weapons that infused magic and the power of our own hearts: the keyblades. However, as contact with humans became more and more frequent, they also learned this, and so, we formed alliances. There was a city that held this alliance strong for all keyblade fighters: Scala ad Caelum. The old Elven kingdom was called Radiant Garden. However, as Xehanort gained power and followers, he waged a war that tore the alliance apart. It tore the alliance city apart as well as Radiant Garden since us elves rebelled. The ones that remained, fled to the Lucid Mountains here, and we formed this safe haven. In the aftermath, we could only bide time. Our old master, he worked with the princes and princesses of the different kingdoms and basically cast a binding sleep spell to seal the kingdoms away and keep them safe. You two come from one of those kingdoms. You were put to sleep, but now it seems that spell is wearing off since you obviously woke up." Terra kept himself from revealing too much. After all, the seers would show them, but a precursor to it would help.

"And..that's why we can't remember much? I can get bits and pieces from my dreams." Sora was still in the process of going through all that he said. Had all that really happened..and he had just slept through it?

"Yes, it will take time, but eventually your memories will return. For now, Aqua will show you to the Hall of Memories. You will see visions of the past and maybe even the future. You're connected to Riku in a special way. That's part of the reason I sent him to you both. I'll warn you. The things you may see, might not be pleasant, but it's necessary."

"We're both here to talk to if you need. I'll..try to get Riku in a better mood if I can," Aqua said and motioned for them to follow her. Sora and Kairi bowed to Terra before walking off. They both stayed quiet as they were led through winding halls and courtyards. What were they going to be shown, and why was it not going to be pleasant? Sora put on a brave face, but he couldn't stop his hands from shaking.

The Hall of Memories was in an underground cavern beneath a small hill. Torches of blue fire lit the way into the tunnel that opened up into a large, cathedral like chamber. Different murals lined the walls, going up into different tiered levels. In the middle of the ground floor was another gigantic crystal. This one was clear, shining with the light of the torches.

"This is a clear quartz crystal. We've used them for a long time to see into ourselves and look back at the past and into the future. They reflect the light within all of us," Aqua explained. "There is also a mural the seers painted when we first came here. It's the reason we knew to seek you out and who to send."

The mural was right across from the quartz crystal and by far the largest one. Sora and Kairi both gasped as they saw themselves with Riku as well. Kairi stood in the middle, her keyblade pointed to the ground as she rested her hands on it. On either side of her were Sora and Riku with their present keyblades. They knelt on one knee, and all of them had their eyes closed.

"It was odd because at the time this was painted, Riku still had his old keyblade, and this obviously depicts his current one. It seems you three were destined to come together in some way."

Sora walked closer, placing his hand on the smooth surface of the cavern wall. "Wow, this is amazing..and weird too. Riku and I kind of look like your knights, Kairi," Sora chuckled, keeping his eyes glued to the mural.

"Well, I am the best after all," Kairi teased back, seeming to be just as mesmerized as Sora.

"When you're both ready, we can begin the process of recollection. It won't show you everything, just glimpses of past events, especially with people you were close to. I'm not entirely sure what it'll show you. It's different for everyone, but it should help you understand the bigger picture." Aqua gestured to the quartz crystal. A few of the seers, dressed in cloaks that covered their faces, stood around it, preparing for the ritual.

Sora and Kairi looked at each other for a moment, as if checking to make sure the other was ready before nodding.

"I want to see the truth, even if it might be painful. I want to know more about Riku. So I can know why he seems so distant." One of the seers gestured them towards the crystal. Taking a deep breath, Sora took Kairi's hand as they both walked over, sitting in front of it.

"He's been through a lot is all I can say. You'll see the rest."

As instructed, Sora placed a hand on the crystal as the seers began a chant, closing the circle around them. Closing his eyes, Sora felt a rush of warmth flood into him from the crystal. The power of it alone made him want to pull his hand away, but he grit his teeth and kept his hand firmly in place. The feeling was much like being underwater. He could breathe, but his breaths were slow and deep. The ground seemed to disappear beneath him, and he was nothing more than a floating entity in a vast sea of darkness. For a while, there was nothing but void with specks of light here and there. Eventually, one light grew larger and larger until his whole being was engulfed by it. The scene before him was much like watching something unfold as he floated above only with no corporeal body of his own. All around was what looked to once be a great city with spiraling towers and buildings as far as the eye could see. However, the once stark white walls were covered in soot and ash. Most of the towers were crumbling apart, breaking the silence whenever a large piece fell off and shattered on the ground. There were people about, but their eyes were filled with fear. They glanced around fervently everytime they were about to round a corner as if something were chasing them. He spotted someone who looked very familiar, especially that silvery hair. Riku! It was strange. Here, his hair was long, flowing past his shoulders. The harsh wind blew it around here and there. The keyblade in its scabbard was much smaller than the one he currently wielded. As he walked, his face was a mix of guilt and anger. However, he stopped in his tracks as another approached him: a young man with dark hair and piercing yellow eyes, wearing a perpetual smirk. It only grew larger when he spotted Riku.

"I thought I'd find you here, lost Elf Prince. Come to broker a deal?" His laugh alone was enough to make Sora cringe in fear.

"I've come to negotiate, Vanitas. Hasn't enough destruction and bloodshed been had? I have a deal I think your father will be interested in hearing." Riku's voice was strong, but there was just the slightest bit of wavering to it.

"Ohhhh, have you finally come to your senses? Are you going to join us? I mean, that's great news, but..it won't be easy." Vanitas stared him down with the same wild look in his eyes. Sora could already tell he wasn't going to like this creep.

"Just take me to him. I don't have time to play games with you."

"I think you'll find there'll be plenty of time for games. You think you can rescue Ventus, huh? I'm guessing that's part of the reason why you came all by yourself. But fine, this way."

Sora found that whatever form he was in, he simply followed after them without thinking. In a flash, that scene disappeared and another memory appeared.

There was some old looking guy sitting on a throne with similar eyes to Vanitas. Was that..Xehanort? Below him, Riku was kneeling on the floor. From the angle, it was hard to tell what his expression was.

"You have great power within you, child of light. I can give you a platform to take hold of that power, and your connection with another through dreams is something I can utilize. Your people are all but remnants now. Here, you can obtain true power." Xehanort made no attempt to hide just how sinister his grin was.

"All I want..is to protect what's dearest to me." Riku's voice was solemn..almost defeated in a way. All Sora wanted to do was reach out to him, tell him he didn't need to do this, but before he knew it, the image faded away.

What came next were flashes of different memories of Riku's time in Xehanort's strong hold. Sora felt a part of himself break everytime he heard a pained cry from Riku when he was getting beat bad in a sparring match. He saw flashes of the two known as Ventus and Roxas. He wouldn't have been able to tell them apart if it wasn't for one having pointed elven ears and the other the rounded human ones. There was talk of an escape between the three of them.

"We tried, Riku! But Vanitas is relentless, and there are a bunch of other members that are deadly as well," Ventus said as they all sat out on a balcony overlooking what looked to be a vast graveyard.

"That's true. But, there are three of us now. We have to try. I have to get you both out of here." There was an obvious dark bruise on his cheek. No doubt, it was from a previous fight. "I thought that maybe there was a chance I could harness my powers, learn more about the darkness, but..they just want to exploit them."

The next few flashes were a fight..a rather brutal one. Riku and Vanitas' keyblades clashed again and again until one strong swing caused Riku's keyblade to snap right in half. The clang of it breaking was louder than any other sound in the room. Taking advantage of the moment of weakness, Vanitas grabbed onto Riku's hair, keeping him pinned to the ground as he dug his knee into his back. For a moment, Riku's eyes were hazy with defeat, but in the last second, they gained their sheen again. In a quick motion, he took his severed keyblade and sliced most of the length of his hair clean off, freeing him from the grip and using that distraction to get free. There was a burst of blinding light for a moment as he yelled for Ventus and Roxas. It took Sora's eyes a few moments to adjust as he was shown the next memory of the three of them running off into the graveyard.

As suddenly it was there, Sora was soon in the void again. He saw Riku with a strange emblem hovering above him, and..Sora saw himself sleeping soundly. A soft light emanated from Riku with a peaceful smile on his face as he placed a hand on his forehead.

"Don't worry. I'll always protect you. I would never let anyone use this power of mine to hurt you..no matter what. If all goes well, you'll live a peaceful life. Someday, you may have to face the outside world, but I hope it's when peace reigns once more."

"Riku.." Sora reached out for him as he felt some force pulling him away. All he wanted to do was hug him, tell him everything was going to be alright, but the force was too strong. He was forcibly pulled away from the image. A few seconds later, he gasped as he suddenly opened his eyes to find himself by the crystal again. He blinked a few times, moving his hands and legs to be sure he was back in reality. Something warm was streaming down his cheeks. Reaching his hand up, he found that tears were pouring out of his eyes. Kairi had woken up around the same time, looking rather confused herself. Without thinking much, Sora jumped up onto his feet. He started at a brisk walking pace that soon turned into a run.

"Sora! Where are you going?"

"I gotta find Riku! I..I just need to." The tears blurred his vision, but he kept on the path, going as fast as his legs could carry him.


	11. Chapter 11

As Sora ran along the path, his breath hung visible in the crisp night air with in little puffs with each exhale. A few tears still streamed down his cheeks, falling to the ground every so often. His mind was filled with so much information, but there was just one concrete thought in his mind: find Riku. The citadel was the last place he saw him, making it the first place he went to. Outside the alabaster walls, he looked around wildly. He stooped down to rest his hands on his knees, feeling a burning sensation in his lungs from running all the way here. His body was protesting any more movement, but that didn't matter right now. He gasped, when he gazed up and noticed the familiar silvery hair reflecting the moonlight way up on top of the spiraling tower. Sora started pacing, trying to figure out just how he'd get up there. He wasn't an elf. He couldn't just gracefully scale the tower like Riku probably had.

"Need a lift?" Sora visibly jumped at the sudden voice right behind him. He started to fall backwards but was stopped by two hands on his shoulders. As quick as he could, he rubbed at his eyes to get rid of any remaining tears. As calmly as he could, he turned around to see a dark haired elf smiling at him. He glanced from her to where Riku was a few times.

"Oh, um, sure..if you could. I'm Sora by the way," he said, hoping his voice didn't waver too much.

"Yuffie. It's nice to meet you. You're in luck. In terms of agility, I'm one of the best."

Sora didn't get much time to react as she easily hoisted him over her shoulder. The next thing he saw was the ground getting further and further away as she started jumping along the tower. Sora covered his mouth as he knew he was inevitably going to scream. Squeezing his eyes shut, he waited until he was back on his feet on some kind of solid ground. Yuffie looked rather proud of herself, getting bewildered looks from both Sora and Riku who wasn't expecting her to come flying up out of nowhere.

"There!" She glared right at Riku. "And don't even think of running off somewhere else. I am fully prepared to play scavenger hunt if that's the case."

Riku grumbled something under his breath and sat back down, though his eyes softened a bit at seeing Sora. Had he..been crying? He quickly cast his gaze elsewhere, rubbing his fingers along the rough surface of the tower. Yuffie nodded to Sora before vanishing off somewhere else.

Sora stood there for a moment, twiddling his fingers. He grimaced when he could still see flashes of what Riku had looked like before when he looked at him, though the feeling was starting to fade somewhat. Still, there was a strange connection between them, and it wasn't just from what the crystal had showed him. Taking a shaky breath, he willed his legs to move forward and took a seat by Riku.

"Um..hey," he said softly. How was he even supposed to start a conversation like this? There were so many questions..so many things he wanted to say that he felt like his head was going to explode.

"So, the crystal showed you everything? Everything you were curious about?" There was a sound of defeat in his voice. It was soft but also hollow sounding.

"Some stuff, yeah. A lot of it was from your perspective..and.." Sora really couldn't help the tears now, already sniffling. "Riku, I'm so sorry you had to go through all that. I-I didn't know."

"It's my own fault." Riku shifted slightly away from Sora, keeping his eyes on the moon. "I wanted to seek out power to make a place where my people..everyone can live in peace. I thought maybe I'd learn something..a truce or something, but I was so wrong, and I nearly lost myself in the process. You and Kairi have a destiny. This is where our paths diverge. Go and save everyone where I failed."

Sora had started to reach out his hand towards him but faltered, pulling it back close to his chest.

"But you kept going afterwards, and you got even stronger. I mean, look at your new keyblade! It's huge and strong just like you. We all fall..in one way or another. I mean, I slept through most of this. I feel awful, knowing that people were dying and suffering, and I was just blissfully asleep. What's important is how you get back up after you fall." Sora's voice was warbled by sobs, wiping his eyes every so often. There was the dull pain of seeing Riku closing himself off and knowing things that he could've prevented.

"And what did I get in return? Strength, sure, but I also gained distrust. There are always bets going around as to whether or not I'll return to Xehanort's side. I'm just..caught in the middle." He finally turned to face Sora, brows furrowed. Part of him wanted to reach out and wipe his tears away, but..this was for the best. "I've accepted this fate of mine, and you should accept yours."

"And what? Stay here where I'm safe from the dangerous outside world? Where I can't be corrupted? I've had enough of that already! I know you don't believe what you're saying. We have a connection..one that seems older than what we are now. I don't know what it is, but in the visions from the crystal, I saw a weird emblem hovering above you. You were standing over me as I slept. So, explain that to me, Riku." Sora mirrored his pissed off look, indignantly crossing his arms. There was a fire to his eyes as watery as they were. He hated talking to him like this, but he needed to be firm.

Riku's eyes widened at the mention of it, backing away slightly.

"It's nothing for you to worry about. It's not like it matters much now. Just..please..leave me be." With trembling hands, he clutched onto his hair, starting to curl up into a ball. These feelings..

"Please, Riku. You know you can open up to me. We've been through so much already. I know you don't want our time together to end here. I know you've been hurt, and you've had to go through a lot of stuff alone. I know you're afraid of what I'll think, but I promise you it's okay. I'm here for you." Sora stopped moving towards him when he noticed Riku scooting further away.

"Sora, please just leave me alone. Go get some sleep."

"Riku, we can-" Sora's vision went dark as Riku reached out, placing two fingers on his forehead and whispering "Maer." Sora quickly fell forward into his arms, fast asleep instantly.

Sora woke up with a start, looking around wildly as the last thing he remembered was being on top of the tower with Riku. It seemed to be a bedroom, finding himself in a bed with the morning sun shining in through some large glass doors. All he could see out of the glass were blurry colors from the trees outside: an opaque glass. Did Riku..make him go to sleep. Finding Riku was the only thing on his mind. No way was he just going to give up. He threw the covers off of him and immediately hopped out of the bed.

Despite looking everywhere he could think Riku would be, he was nowhere to be found.

Already out of breath, he took a seat on a small hill overlooking the woods. Why was Riku pushing him away when they were already getting so close? He focused on the trees and the way the wind moved the branches about. Closing his eyes, he listened to the melody it created, similar to what he used to do back at home. He opened one eye when he heard footsteps and the sound of someone sitting by him. He was expecting it to be Kairi or maybe Aqua, nearly falling over when he saw Elf King Terra. He reminded Sora of Riku in a way..at least in build like geez, he was buff.

"O-oh! Hello, your majesty!" Sora immediately stood up straight.

"Haha, hello, Sora. You can just call me Terra. It's okay, really," Terra laughed. He leaned his weight back on one hand in a more relaxed pose. "I'm guessing you've been looking for Riku. He's probably hiding out somewhere in the woods. I would know if he just left."

"That's a relief at least. I just..wish he'd talk to me, but I guess he still feels bad about what he did." Sora drew his knees up close to his chest, resting his chin on them. He squinted at the horizon, trying to find something to focus on.

"He was in rough shape when he returned, and that's a pretty big understatement. Beaten and bloodied..hair sliced up. I don't know how he made it all the way here on his own. He told us Ven and Roxas headed to the Twilight Realm. I can only hope they made it there safely," Terra sighed with a forlorn look, scratching his forehead. "Riku just needs time to simmer. Give him a few days. I'm sure he'll come around. I can tell he really cares about you. He probably didn't want you to find out the ugly truth and feels ashamed."

"I understand. I just wish I could help him feel better, but I know the feeling." Sora placed a hand over his heart. He hadn't seen all of what had happened while he was asleep, but the crystal had showed him enough bits and pieces.

"Actually, I think I know the perfect time for you two to reconnect." He saw Terra's face light up. "In a few days, we're going to have a dance. I guess you'd call it a ball. It's to celebrate the upcoming harvest, and the season shifting into autumn. It's customary for princes from this kingdom and the visiting one to dance. Since you're technically the prince of your kingdom, you and Riku will dance as it's customary. That should give him time to sort through his own thoughts. If all goes well, maybe he'll open up to you."

"D-dancing? Uh, one problem, though: I don't know the first thing about ballroom dancing." Sure, it was a great idea, but Sora felt like he'd just piss Riku off more by stepping on his feet.

"No worries. I can have Aqua show you the basics. It's really not all that hard," Terra chuckled, bumping Sora's arm. "Come on, you want to impress Riku, right?"

Sora took a deep breath, opening his eyes to flash a determined smile. "Alright, I'll give it a try!"

Sora put all his effort into at least becoming decent at formal dancing the next three days. Of course, Kairi seemed to be naturally good at it, making a face whenever Sora accidentally stepped on her feet which was more than a few times. Eventually, he got to the level of being "okay" at it as Kairi described. Aqua gave him a nod of approval at the last run through.

"You don't need to worry too much. Riku will most likely lead. You just need to follow his movements."

Between the dance lessons, he didn't see much of Kairi since she spent most of her time watching over Xion as she recovered. On the last day, Sora decided to pay a visit seeing as there wasn't much else to do since Riku was still avoiding him. Xion lied on a small slab, slightly submerged in some sort of water. The room was quiet besides the song of birds outside, and the water running into the pool. Along with Kairi, he noticed an elf there: the one they first met when entering this place.

"Oh, hey..Cloud, right?" Sora timidly walked up, trying his best to keep eye contact despite the intimidating gaze. "Have you been watching over Xion?"

"Yeah. Only because someone needs to be here in case she woke up and tried to escape. Did you forget she's not on your side?" He quickly looked somewhere else when Kairi glared at him. "It's just a precaution."

"Well, I'm sure she appreciates someone keeping an eye on her," Sora chuckled. He sat by Kairi, looking over her curiously. Every now and then, she'd move her eyebrows slightly which must be a good sign. She was dreaming.

"The healers said she should wake up any day now. They said when someone has a major change of heart, they have vivid dreams, so I guess that must be what she's doing." With the gentlest touch, Kairi moved a strand of hair out of her face.

"Before her fight with Riku, she seemed to really enjoy dancing with you. I'm sure she'll be happy to see you when she wakes up. Hopefully, she'll maybe be on our side." Seeing Xion was a good distraction given that Sora was solely focused on reconnecting with Riku.

"So, are you prepared for the dance? I'm sure Riku will come around. I'll drag him to this event if I have to." Kairi gave him an encouraging smile which quickly turned into a smirk as she made a punching motion.

"Haha, I don't think there's anyone who can escape you. Thanks. I'm sure it'll go fine. I have faith in Riku." Sora looked to the sun outside, watching it dip lower and lower towards the horizon. "Well, I guess I better go prepare, get dressed up, that sort of thing. Will I see you there?"

"Yeah, I may be a bit late, but I'll be there. Promise." Kairi held out her pinky to Sora. He grinned and wrapped his pinky around it.

"See you there, then. Wish me luck!"

Sora was glad they at least left him a choice of outfits, seeing a few laid out on the bed. Giving it some thought, he went with pants that were pretty much the same as the ones he was wearing that came up to his knees. The shirt was a v-neck to show off his necklace, the collar gilded with some gold colored material. Lastly, he chose a black and red jacket to wear over it. Looking in the mirror, he fixed his hair as much as he could, wanting to look at least somewhat nice, maybe mostly for Riku. With a final breath, he walked out, following where everyone else was going.

The main hall had lights strewn about the ceiling which Sora guessed must've been magical fire given the different colors. The whole place reminded him of some sort of mystical garden: the lights like the stars in the night sky with trees and flowering plants lining the walls which were covered by ivy vines that spiraled up the columns as well. The hall was filled with chatter as it seemed nearly everyone in this small kingdom were here. He waved when he noticed Aqua, wearing a dark suit that shimmered underneath the lights. He immediately stopped in his tracks when he saw who else was with her. Those usual topaz eyes focused on Sora. Aqua smirked, moving out of the way some. Sora felt like he could die where he stood and be happy. Riku's black pants hugged his legs oh so well, wearing a button up shirt, though most of the top buttons were undone. Against the exposed part of his chest hung a necklace with a brilliant deep blue gem. Sora couldn't help but focus his gaze right on that gem, and well..his chest too. He nearly squeaked as he noticed Riku approaching him as music started to play. He still said nothing as he held his hand out to him with a courteous bow. Sora, not really sure how this whole formal dance thing worked, mirrored the motion.

"H-hey, so how do we do this?" Sora wanted to say so many things since he had barely seen him at all since their argument, but he supposed this dance came first..to break the ice at least.

"Just take my hand," Riku sighed. Sora could've sworn there was a hint of a smile. He gulped, nodding as he slowly took Riku's hand, feeling the other's warmth against it. Having done this many times, Riku wrapped his other arm around Sora's waist, though he kept his hand more towards the middle of his back, pulling him closer in. "Place your other hand on my shoulder."

Sora could feel sweat building up on the back of his neck, simply nodding at the little commands. He tried his best to keep his eyes from wandering. Riku's chest being right there wasn't helping. "Just follow my movements."

Riku's hand on his back did help with guiding him. All the practice he had before was out the window at this point. It did not prepare him for being this close to Riku. As the music sped up, Riku effortlessly kept up with the tempo, keeping his eyes on Sora. Their movements were rigid at first, but as they started to get comfortable with the positioning, they began to dance together more than one just following the other's motions. There was that strange connection again. Sora felt a pull towards Riku, somehow able to know just how he moved. Given the look in Riku's eyes, he must be able to feel it too. By the middle of the song, they were both smiling. Sensing higher confidence in Sora, Riku tried a few new moves as the music went. There was applause as Riku effortlessly twirled him even executing a few lifts, much to Sora's embarrassment. His face turned bright red with Riku's hands on his waist for the lifts. Though his heart was pounding, Sora laughed along with him.

As the song came to an end, Riku carefully dipped him. One arm held Sora in place while the other stretched out gracefully. Their chests rose and fell as they stayed completely still in that position, simply gazing at each other. They could barely hear the applause in the background, solely focused on one another.

Clearing his throat, Riku finally helped Sora up, finishing it up by respectfully bowing again. Before Sora had a chance to say anything, Riku took his hand again, gazing at him longingly before leading him along towards a far corner of the hall. No words had been spoken between the two of them the whole dance, but it felt like their movements had said much more than words ever could. Without any resistance, he let Riku lead him along, going by the columns that led outside.

"Sora..I.." There was a warmth in his voice once again.

"Riku, you don't need to apologize." Sora took hold of both of his hands. "I shouldn't have pushed you to talk. I should've respected your boundaries and all you've been through. I was trying to deal with what I had seen."

"Well, I didn't have to be an asshole about it," Riku sighed, squeezing Sora's hands slightly. "I guess I still feel ashamed that I fell so low. I didn't want you to see that even though I knew you inevitably would. I'm guessing the crystal didn't show you everything." Though it pained him to remember, Sora deserved to know the truth. He could trust Sora. He knew he could.

"It showed me flashes of memories. You don't have to tell me. I got the gist from what I saw."

"My time there isn't all I need to tell you. You must've felt it, especially when we were dancing. We danced like we had done it a thousand times. You noticed it, right?" Riku still felt butterflies in his stomach. He had Sora sit down with him. He let go of his hands so he could lace his own fingers together. "I'll start with the connection. It turns out I'm something that's called a Dream Eater. I connect with peoples' dreams, but it turns out I'm only connected to one person: you. I've been watching you through your dreams ever since..well, I'm not exactly sure how long or why. When I was in Oblivion, Xehanort took an interest in this ability, thinking it could be used to get to the other Sleeping Kingdoms. He wouldn't believe me when I said you were the only one I was connected with, and I wasn't sure if I could even forge other connections. When he finally found that I would be useless for his plan as well as my own plan to get Ventus and Roxas out of there, he sent Vanitas after me. I stood my ground and fought, but you must've seen my keyblade break. It was a fight for survival at that point. I sliced my hair to get free, I was pretty much beaten to a pulp, and it would've been worse if Ventus and Roxas hadn't intervened. I'm not really sure how I made it back home. My vision was red. I could barely keep my head up, and a stinging pain would jolt down my spine when I turned my neck the wrong way. Since Unversed and Heartless were pursuing us, we made a decision to split up; however, it seems they're still not done with getting me in their clutches." Riku had to take a few breaks while talking, mostly trying to sort through the fuzzy memories since he hadn't been in an exactly proper state of mind during that. Seeing that his hand was shaking, Sora held onto it without hesitation, holding it close to his face.

"How dare they. How could they be so cruel? I..I just don't understand it."

"It's mostly Xehanort. With his power, Vanitas and everyone else does what he says. I doubt Vanitas wanted to take it that far, or I at least hope he has at least a husk of a conscience. He wants to please his father and have that same power. There's no doubt we'll run into him when we go back outside. Are you prepared for that?" Riku still had qualms with bringing Sora and Kairi back out there, but given their combined determination, there was no way he could keep them here.

"I'm prepared. I'll follow you wherever you go. I have to see them pay for what they did."

Seeing that serious look, Riku sighed in defeat. There was no way he could say no to that face. The sudden hug took him off guard, making him nearly fall backwards and eventually wrapped his arms around Sora.

"Now that you told me..about the dream eater thing..I always did feel someone else with me in my dreams. I always felt safe, like I was never truly alone." Sora gazed up at him with sparkling eyes. Riku noted the few seconds where they focused on his lips.

"W-well, yeah. It's not like I could really help it. It's like I was pulled to you," he stammered, trying to read what was going on. Sora's face was definitely getting closer. For a moment, he was prepared to close his eyes and wait for whatever was about to happen.

"You always watched over me.." Sora's eyelids fluttered as he leaned in ever so slowly, hands gliding up to rest on Riku's shoulders. His lips drew closer and closer..

"Well, looks like you guys made up, huh?"

Both of them jolted with Sora falling off of Riku, whipping around with burning cheeks to see Kairi standing there smugly.

"K-Kairi! Hey! Yeah, we did. I was just..hugging him!" Sora was starting to babble on while Riku just sat there completely stunned. His brain was attempting to process what had almost happened, though he managed a half hearted wave at Kairi. He cocked his head to the side when he noticed someone else with her: a girl with short black hair, dressed in the same clothes they had brought her in with.


	12. Chapter 12

Graves lined the landscape as far as the eye could see. Decrepit swords and keyblades alike stuck out of the ground: the soil fallow and dry. It was a cursed land as many called it. Only the followers of Xehanort dared walk through it. There was only the sound of wind, howling like the vengeful souls of the fallen, the spirits still tied to the land. For reasons unknown, the skies were always overcast with gray clouds blocking out the sun. Though Vanitas was quite used to the landscape outside Oblivion, the vibe of the graveyard still sent shivers down his spine. Even though he didn't have much to fear with the Unversed at his command, he couldn't help but feel a twinge of sorrow as he walked with only the wind whispering by his ear or at least he hoped it was just the wind. Far in the distance, beyond the rolling hills dotted with the weapons of fallen warriors, were the remnants of Scala ad Caelum: a place he had once thought of as home. He felt like he should feel something when seeing it, but all there was was a hollow hole in his chest where anything should be. He unconsciously clutched his shirt there as if that would awaken something.

"They'll pay..they'll all pay.."

It seemed his father had the others all busy with their own tasks. As he entered the castle, welcomed by the ear wrenching creak of the door, it was mostly empty with only a few servants around here or there. Entering the throne room, he knelt on one knee in front of Xehanort who seemed to be reading something before standing back up.

"Ah, welcome back, Vanitas. What have you learned?" he asked, putting the book aside for now.

"Prince Riku was successful in getting the once sleeping prince and princess to the new Elven Kingdom..if you even want to call it that. It's more like their hideout now so my Unversed tell me. I approached him on his way there, but it seems the seeds of doubt I planted didn't come to fruition." The taunting had always worked before, but perhaps Riku had grown more resilient through the years.

"They won't stay there for long. Riku isn't one to stay and hide away. They'll most likely go for one of the other slumbering kingdoms next. I have Xigbar and Marluxia waiting for them. After all, they want to save those half elf twins." He was always a step ahead..as usual.

"Ventus and Roxas. If I recall, our deserter, Axel, was headed towards there as well." Vanitas remembered him making a huge deal about it before storming off.

"Yes, we can kill two birds with one stone. And what of Xion? I recall sending her off to follow them."

"I haven't heard from her. As far as I know, she's missing." Rebellions breaking out all over as well as the slumbering kingdoms starting to wake up had kept him rather busy.

"Then it seems the traitors are finally starting to show their true colors. We have no need for turncoats, especially not now. Dispose of all who dare to betray me." Xehanort's voice turned cold, almost menacing, just barking out a simple order. Vanitas answered with a nod. He stared down at his own hand, watching the emblem blink visibly every now and then as it tended to do. Every now and then, he found his eyes wandering over to the large window where the old city could be seen.

"Hmm, you seem distracted again. Thinking of home again?" With a sigh, Xehanort stood up from the throne, taking his time with walking down to Vanitas.

"Sometimes. There aren't many good memories. Everyone looked at me like I was a monster. They all deserved their fate..besides..her." Sometimes he dreamed of a light..not a blinding one but one of comfort.

"If things had gone well, I could have saved her, but she was too aligned with the light. She never would have joined us. After all, her son is a child of light." Xehanort walked over to a table with an old chessboard that showed its misuse in the layer of dust upon it. He took a seat, inviting Vanitas to take the other chair. "Did I ever tell you about her and her lineage?"

Vanitas shook his head, taking a seat. "She was Riku's mother, and she was the only one that looked at me with kind eyes. There was a sadness to them, but she treated me as if I was family."

"This world, a long time ago, used to be populated by creatures steeped in magic. There are a few that remain, but nothing like what there was: dragons, chimaeras, basilisks. They say, when these beings left this world for whatever reason, they were reborn in the races we see here today. It mostly exists in lines of royalty, but there are a few exceptions. In my research, I found a line that originated with the unicorns. She was amongst that line. You must have noticed the strange birthmark on her forehead that looked like a star. That's a mark left behind from the unicorns, where a horn would've been. It's fainter on Riku, but it's there."

Vanitas' eyes widened at the new information. His father almost never shared his research like this. Is the power of old magical beings what he was after?

"No wonder she was so kind. Does that mean the princes and princesses of the slumbering kingdoms are like that too?"

"I believe so. They possess a great magic. I don't know all of the specific beings they're connected to, but I intend to find out. Since they've been kept shut away from the world, there is little I can do besides consult old texts, many that the wizards have taken," Xehanort sighed, rubbing his temples. They had done well to keep his plans at bay, but everything would come to fruition soon.

"Is there a way we could find out? Maybe some sort of magic?" Anyway that he could help, he'd do it.

"That's why I intended on using Riku. As a dream eater, he could enter dreams in his past life form, and in turn, reveal the past lives of whoever's dream he visits. But it seems he can only do that for one person." Xehanort's smirk grew. "Luckily, the one whom he's connected to happens to be Prince Sora. It's too bad I only realized this after he fled."

"I won't let him get away again. I promise. I went on easy on him when I should've done exactly as you ordered. It's my fault." Vanitas remembered seeing the frenzied look in his eyes after slicing off his hair to get free. It made him stumble, and before he could do anything else, he ran. "As for that goody little runt, I'll drag him along with Riku back here."

"You've always been successful with your missions, Vanitas. I have faith in you. The time you spent with Eraqus and the others has served you well enough to see that power over this world belongs to us."

"Yes, father. I'll rest for a while and head back out there." Standing up again, he bowed once more before quickly walking over to his chambers. Alone again in the gloomy halls, his thoughts felt tangible again. He hated thinking about his past. Why had his father left him to Eraqus? Why abandon him only to be scorned in a kingdom of light. To be a monster amongst them..a fate that only he knew.

Riku found himself pacing around again, something he tended to do when even the slightest bit apprehensive. For one, he was certain that him and Sora had nearly kissed until Kairi's interruption. Secondly, Xion was awake and seemingly okay with being on their side now, but he wasn't just about to buy that. He had to stay on edge as he always was. After that, things with Sora seemed to be mostly back to normal. He was still trying his best with being more open about how he was feeling, but he still found his thoughts circling back to that night. What would've happened if Kairi hadn't shown up? His face flared up at the mere thought. For now, he busied himself with packing up for their next journey. The Twilight Realm was far away, and it'd be a long voyage with Heartless, Unversed, and Xehanort's lackeys in the way. There was no doubt in his mind that there would be someone waiting there for them. After all, Ventus and Roxas should be there, and they were targets too.

Lastly, he strapped his keyblade in its scabbard to his back. They had all agreed to meet outside the citadel. Outside, it looked to be a sunny day with clear blue skies as far as the eye could see. The Lucid mountains towered ahead blue and hazy. He could already see the three of them waiting there. It was just a simple wave from Sora, but Riku felt his heart nearly skip a beat at seeing his smiling face. Riku managed to wave back, combing his fingers through his bangs in the process. He stared back at Sora when he noticed the staring.

"What? Something on my face?" He wiped his face a bit just in case. It didn't help that Kairi was giving him "that look."

"Oh, no. I just never noticed that mark on your forehead before. Maybe because of your bangs." Sora stared at it some more once Riku lifted up his bangs again. "It's cool looking, like a star."

"It's a birthmark or so I'm told. My mother had the same one." There was a sadness to Riku's eyes as his fingers brushed over the mark.

"Oh, you haven't told me about your mom. Is she..um.." Sora seemed apprehensive about asking given how sad Riku looked all of a sudden.

"She's not with us anymore, but it's okay. It happened a while ago. Guess I carry on her legacy now or whatever," Riku said with a shrug. He glanced over at Xion, noticing her hair looked a lot shorter. He might as well take the opportunity to be friendly given how her last interaction with him went. "Oh, uh, nice hair cut, Xion. It looks good." He hoped the thumbs up looked genuine. She glanced at him with icy eyes, staying behind Kairi slightly.

"..Thanks. Aerith cut it for me."

"Ah, yeah, she's pretty good at that kind of stuff." In fact, she had been the one to fix up his hair after he returned from Oblivion.

"She looks great with short hair, doesn't she? You look cute," Kairi said with a genuine grin. Riku and Sora cocked their heads to the side as they saw a hint of blush appear on her cheeks.

There was a bit more chatter before Riku finally decided they should head out while the sun was still high in the sky. They took on their usual group formation with Riku leading in the front and the others chattering away with each other behind him. There were times when Riku wished his hearing wasn't so sensitive, twitching them around as he tried to quiet his own mind.

"I didn't interrupt a private moment between you guys, did I?" Kairi asked. Riku almost froze in place.

"Oh! N-no. We were just happy to be talking again. Like I said, we were hugging and stuff," Sora blurted out, a little too suspiciously. He had been thinking about the moment endlessly as well, but..he couldn't admit that to Kairi or anyone else yet.

"Mm, suuure." Kairi chuckled to herself, making that conniving face again.

As they exited through the steep cliffs that protected the place again, Riku stopped when he noticed Cloud waiting for them along with another.

"You joining us or something? Not that I don't welcome more help or anything." They seemed to be waiting for something, both gazing up at the sky before they had arrived. The brown haired smiled as the others caught up.

"Hey, I'm Leon. I don't think you guys have met me yet."

"Hi! I'm Sora."

"Kairi. And this is Xion."

Cloud kept his eyes on the sky like he was searching for something. "A wizard is calling for you guys. We received a message last night. He said he'd send something to get you."

"A wizard, really? I thought those old bastards had all but hidden away, taking their vast knowledge with them." Riku made it a point to sound as sarcastic as possible. Please, the dwindling elf-human alliance that still existed was doing all the work.

"You gonna talk like that when you see him?" Leon chided with a disapproving shake of his head.

"Don't worry. I'll keep the boys in line." Kairi flexed her arm, and Riku had to admit she could be very intimidating when she wanted to be.

"So what exactly is he sending-" Riku paused when he heard the definite sound of wing beats, big ones. Gazing up, a large winged creature was descending down right where they were. It couldn't be a magical creature, could it? They were gone from this world. It could only mean the wizard had transformed himself or maybe it was an illusion. All of them backed off when the gigantic griffin touched down. A violent wind storm followed it for a brief moment, hitting the trees with gales of wind and tossing leaves around. As soon as the wind was there, it was gone, making it seem like time stood still. The leaves stayed in the air for a few seconds before continuing to fall to the ground. The griffin didn't speak, but they could all hear a strong voice in their heads: _Get on. _


	13. Chapter 13

Riku kept an iron grip on the griffin's feathers as soon as it took off without warning. The four of them fit perfectly on its back, and right now, he had not time to feel any embarrassment from Sora clinging onto him. He kept biting the inside of his cheek to stave off any nausea, trying to focus his eyes on the horizon or something, anything else besides the ground way below.

"Gods, I hate flying. Medor korol." He muttered the last part under his breath. The griffin showed that it definitely heard that, going into a steep dive and swooping up again. "Alright, alright! I'm sorry!"

On the other hand, the other three were having the time of their lives. Sora watched in amazement as they passed right over the mountains. The ever present fog shrouded them still even during the day. Only phantom shadows of rocky forms could be seen. As they continued, the land varied from forests to grasslands with small lakes interrupting the sea of trees. There was a spot where the trees thinned and green faded out into blackened areas of ash. What looked to once be a rather large city was now a scar upon the land. All that remained was a skeleton of some grand building. Even the water running through it seemed dull and devoid of color.

"Hey, Riku. What was that place?" Sora leaned forward by his ear, so he could hear him through the wind whooshing past them. Riku glanced down with a heavy heart able to perfectly imagine what it used to look like.

"That was Radiant Garden. The old Elven kingdom. It fell to ruin, and we retreated to where we are now," he said in a voice lacking emotion, turning his head slightly so Sora could hear him.

"Oh..I'm sorry. I didn't know that was Radiant Garden. Your home, right?"

"Well, I mostly lived somewhere else. It was where my mom was, so I stayed there. I only saw what happened here when I returned after all the shit started going down." He felt the old fear and worry like a stone weighing down on his heart. To this day, he still wondered if things would've been slightly different if he had just gotten there faster.

"I see..is it that city you mentioned? The one for the elf-human alliance?"

"Yes, Scala ad Caelum. It fell to ruin too."

Sora could tell Riku was tensing up, feeling his muscles flex tightly. It was probably best to drop this for now. He wasn't sure what to say exactly, simply resting his head against his shoulder.

Riku could remember the inferno perfectly: the fumes and ashes burning his lungs as he called out weakly for his mother..Master Eraqus..anyone. His body jolted as the griffin began to descend rapidly when the forest began again. The four of them watched in horror as the descent wasn't stopping even as the ground was getting closer and closer.

"Hey, shos shal, are you trying to kill us?" Riku pulled on the feathers much like he would on the reins on a horse in hopes it would make the thing pull up. The griffin squawked in response, still diving. Riku was about to just bail, but with Sora clinging tightly to him along with the force of the drop, he was stuck in place. As the ground was right before them, he closed his eyes and waited for the inevitable. There was a whooshing sound, and the wind disappeared along with it. The air around them was completely still and quiet as if they had dove into a deep lake. It took Riku's eyes a few moments to adjust to the dim room. It appeared to be a chamber of some sort but..underground? Or were they in a new realm entirely? Candles of blue flame lined the walls. Magical items and crystals shone on the walls brilliantly against the blue light. In the middle, a huge book sat opened to a random page. As Riku looked over it, it was written in an ancient language that he didn't recognize.

"I'll excuse the rude language you used with me on the way here, Prince Riku." A booming voice made them all jump and whip their heads around to see a bearded man in dark tattered clothes sitting at a desk. Glowing liquids in vials of various shapes and sizes bubbled and fizzled. Riku wrinkled his nose at the sulfur like scent coming from them.

"And, uh, what was your name? You seem familiar, but you know, lots of wizards," Riku said, seemingly unphased given the strange setting they were in.

"Ever so eloquent and polite, aren't you. Hard to believe you're royalty. I've known you since you were still in your mother's womb, and this is the gratitude you show?" The wizard chuckled to himself, getting up from the chair with a groan. "It's Yen Sid if that'll jog your memory."

Sora and Kairi stayed behind Riku and Xion who seemed unafraid of the wizard in front of them. "Prince Sora and Princess Kairi, it's good to see you awake and safe."

"Do you..know us?" Sora asked, though his voice shook slightly. "And where are we exactly?"

"This is my home. Simply a pocket dimension of its own beneath the forest where I won't be disturbed by the dark creatures that now roam the land. I know all of the slumbering kingdoms, and their people, specifically the rulers of them as well as the past lives that connect them all. I have a story if you're willing to hear it." With a snap of his fingers, chairs for all of them appeared as well as one for himself. The large book that sat on a table now appeared in his hands. He gestured for them to take a seat as he did so. "Riku, this story may sound familiar to you. I believe your mother read it to you countless times as a child."

"The Beginning, right? How this land started and where it is now, and how the weapons known as keyblades came about." He remembered her soft voice speaking the words to him with such grace and theatrics. He had heard it a million times, but with her, it was like hearing it for the first time no matter what.

"Yes, it's important that they know, but I'll leave the more recent events up to you to tell since they are quite personal."

Sora and Kairi leaned in slightly, eager to hear what he had to say. With the memory loss, it was like they were learning bits and pieces along the way.

"In the beginning, before humans and elves, this land was dominated by ancient magic and beings imbued in this magic. These beings and the land were connected: grand creatures that ruled the land. You would know these as mythical creatures today: dragons, centaurs, things like that. Though the land was wild and without official kingdoms, there was still order. They had their territories and rules to abide by. When elves and humans appeared, many guarded their lands ferociously. However, there were those that pitied them and offered alliances. Many were drawn to the elves as they were closer to magic and the mystical parts of the world. Humans were connected to the land and were known for their loyalty to each other and strong bonds. The unicorns and dragons sided with the elves. As such, creatures that were more drawn to the land sided with the humans. Now, there was a great calamity coming. A creature steeped in darkness wanted the land and its power for itself. It took the might and power of nearly every magical being to put a stop to it. In the end, most were wiped out except for the elves and humans. Wanting to preserve their legacy and seeing their age was coming to an end, the beings that remained imbued themselves into a chosen few of elves and humans. At the time, there were two main groups of elves, the unicorns chose one and the dragons chose another. There were a few others, but those were the main ones recorded at least. For the humans, there were many: foxes, lions, stags, creatures connected to the land. Their magic and essence was now within those people. Afterwards, the land was at peace again, and the humans and elves thrived. Generation after generation, the magic from the creatures was passed down from individual to individual creating past lives. The ones with these past lives were some of the first to create keyblades: weapons made with the wielder's very spirit with light and darkness. Riku's line comes from the unicorn. I'm sure you've noticed the star shaped birthmark on his forehead. The ancient magic they possessed still lies within him." Yen Sid took a moment to pause, drinking some weird liquid from a glass. "Do you wish to know your past lives, Sora and Kairi? Each ruler of the human kingdoms has one."

Sora and Kairi glanced at each other. They never would've thought they had something like that. They nodded at each other.

"Yes, please tell us. Who knows? It could be the key to finding our lost memories," Kairi said. She picked at the hem of her skirt.

"Very well. Miss Kairi, you are connected with the mystical fox that used to roam the forests. Their magic wasn't as grand as those of the unicorns, but it was powerful. You have a propensity for magic, do you not?"

Kairi gasped, bringing her hand to her mouth. "I do. You're saying I was a fox in a past life?"

Yen Sid nodded, raising a hand up. "Allow me to show you a vision. Perhaps you've seen something like this in your dreams."

Kairi's eyes widened as an ancient forest was now in front of her. The trees creaked as a breeze flew by. A brilliant red fox ran about the bushes and trees, waving its two tails around. As it ran straight for a thicket, a burst of fire erupted from it, clearing a path. The eyes of the fox..they looked exactly like her own. She gasped as she was pulled from the short vision back to reality.

"W-wow. I can't believe this. It's really true. I can feel it." She clutched at her chest as she caught her breath.

"Now, Sora." He immediately sat up straight as Yen Sid addressed him. "Yours is a horned lion: a grandiose beast who guarded the mountains. They were filled with bravery as well as intense loyalty. They saw this in humans as well which is why they decided to align with them."

The setting in Sora's vision looked similar to the misty landscapes of the Lucid Mountains. Emerging from the fog was a huge lion with horns the color of obsidian emerging out from its head in a graceful arch.

"Woah!" Sora nearly fell back out of the chair, but Riku caught his arm in time.

"And are you aware of Riku's gift, and what drew him to you?" Yen Sid eyed Riku with suspicion.

"Yeah, he told me about it. A dream eater, right? It explains how I feel like I've known him for much longer than in person." Sora flashed a meaningful look to him.

"Good. I'm glad he's had some sense to tell you the truth."

Riku rolled his eyes but shyly returned the same look to Sora. "Sometimes..you'd appear as a horned lion in the dream world, but I still knew it was you."

"Wow, really? I wish I could remember more of my dreams. I can recall bits and pieces, like a strong light and a few landscapes but nothing else, but I know you were there..just a feeling."

"If there are no further questions, that's about all I have to tell you. I'll leave the events of the present up to Prince Riku to tell." He gave Riku a stern look which was returned with a shrug.

"Don't worry. I will. I just need the right setting to do so."

"Shi mesi sai saer saes eirdyr si thar os Scala ad Caelum."

"Or, mos."

Yen Sid looked to Xion with a sceptical eye as if trying to read her simply by staring her down.

"Eisi o mesi o tal ser sor oli?" He turned back to Riku.

"Kairi ser caes. Col os ber cali sai kai shor air thys byrn."

"You think they're talking about Xion?" Sora leaned over and whispered to Kairi. He pulled out a small book Aqua had given him to learn Elvish, but he definitely couldn't keep up with the conversation.

"If there's a problem, they can answer to me."

They both sat there as Yen Sid and Riku seemed to be having a rather in depth discussion in Elvish.

"I'll leave it to your discretion, then. Moving on, you're going to Twilight Realm next, correct?" He turned back to sit at the desk once again.

"Yeah. Roxas and Ventus should be there, and I can see if the princess there has woken up yet. But, that means I'll most likely run into Vanitas again." Riku hoped they'd be able to avoid him somehow.

"That is an inevitability due to your impulsive choice," he sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "But there's no point in dwelling on the past for too long. What matters is what lies ahead. I will take you all to the walls but no further."

"That should be enough. Thank you." Riku bowed his head with the others doing the same soon after.

"Thank you..for telling us about the past. It's nice to at least know a little bit more about myself," Sora said with another bow since he felt like it was necessary.

"I hope we can count on all of you to right the wrongs of the past."

There was a whooshing sound again. Riku quickly jumped up to cling onto the others as they were thrust out of the room, finding themselves high in the sky outside again. The griffin swooped in and caught them, flying them towards the Twilight Realm.

As they approached, the sky shifted from blue to hues of orange. Before them towered a stone wall, encircling a city. Sora's eyes focused on one building within that towered over all the others: a large, intricate clock tower.


	14. Chapter 14

Walls of a polished dark stone towered over them after the griffin dropped them off. Sora and Kairi stared up at it in wonder, having never seen something so massive or at least not what they remembered. They jumped when they heard Yen Sid's voice from the griffin.

"Be wary of that sharp tongue of yours, Prince Riku. I've known you since you were small, so I can excuse it, but there are other sorcerers out here: some with ill intent. Be cautious. Protect each other, and may the light guide you." Leaving them with that, the griffin screeched before taking off in a torrent of wind.

"Was that supposed to be a warning? Gods, wizards annoy me," Riku sighed, waving and heading to the gates. Two guards stood behind the gates, looking them all up and down in suspicion. They seemed to straighten up once they noticed Riku.

"The Elven Prince! What brings you here? Did you catch wind that this kingdom has woken up?"

"Partly. I'm also trying to find some friends who may have come here a while ago: two half elves that look pretty much the same." He leaned nonchalantly against the gates. "And it's time for the rulers of the sleeping kingdoms to come together again."

The two of them still regarded the rest of the group with suspicion until a shout behind them made them quickly move out of the way.

"Riku! You're back!" A blonde haired girl came running over, her white dress trailing about elegantly. "It's been such a long time! And you cut your hair. I did like your longer hair, but this looks good on you too."

"Hey, Namine. Uh, yeah, let's just say a lot's happened since we last met."

There were looks of confusion between Sora, Kairi, and Xion. It seemed that they knew each other quite well.

"So, looks like they're friends. What do you make of them?" Sora whispered to Kairi, leaning towards her slightly.

"Yeah, I'd say so. Looks like she's a bit younger than him. Why? You jealous or something?" Kairi teased, giving her usual devilish grin.

"I-I'm just curious is all, geez."

The guards immediately opened the gates at Namine's command as well as the "look" she gave them. She glanced over the others, waving to them with a grin.

"You two must be Sora and Kairi, right?"

"Wait, how do you know our names?" Kairi asked, a bit taken aback, but at this point, she was used to weird stuff like this happening.

"Well, I remember all the princes and princesses of the sleeping kingdoms. After all, I was the one who cast the spell to protect all of us. I know your names even if we haven't met in person. I don't know you, though." She looked to Xion who immediately backed up some. "I'm Namine. What's your name?"

"Oh, I'm Xion. I'm..not anyone important. Just travelling with them, so I can see my friend again." She spoke quietly but tried her best to present herself in a respectful manner.

"Nice to meet you, Xion. I hope we can help you find whoever you're looking for."

"It's actually the same person, well half of the pair we're looking for. They probably arrived here while all of you here in the Twilight Realm were still asleep: Ventus and Roxas, two half elves," Riku spoke up. It was nice to see her again, but he had to stay on track with their mission.

"Ventus and Roxas..let's see..oh yes! They were here when I woke up. They've been a big help. If I recall, Ventus is at the archery range, and I'm not quite sure where Roxas is, but they're definitely still here. They say something serious happened, but they said they couldn't tell me yet because they made a promise. Do you know anything about that?" Namine tilted her head to the side, looking to Riku for an answer.

"Yeah. That promise was to me. Like I said, I'll tell you everything, but I want to see them first. I need to see that they're okay." Riku scratched the back of his head, not able to keep eye contact with her.

Namine gestured for them to follow her. Through the gates, they all stared around in wonder at the city before them. The cobblestone streets were lined with some of the tallest buildings they had ever seen. In the middle stood the gigantic clock tower. As it chimed on the hour, birds all over the city took off, forming morphing shapes as they crowded together. Sora could see why this was called the Twilight Realm. The sky seemed to always be in hues of orange and red as if the sun was perpetually setting.

Riku had them stop once they were in a town square, looking around to check his bearings.

"I think it's best we split up for now. I'll go to the archery range. The rest of you can go look for Roxas," he said, figuring they could cover more ground that way. There was strange feeling in the back of his mind like something starting to claw on the walls, and he didn't care for it at all.

"Could I go with you, Riku?" Sora asked, giving him the biggest puppy dog eyes he could manage.

"Uh, sure I guess. Any particular reason why?" Riku couldn't help but chuckle at that look, feeling like his heart would melt if he stared for too long.

"N-no reason, really. I just thought you'd like some company since you usually go alone a lot," he stammered.

"Or you just want alone time with Riku," Kairi whispered from behind.

Sora quickly covered his face as he could feel a blush of embarrassment forming on his cheeks.

Riku only smirked and motioned for him to go with him while Kairi and Xion went with Namine.

It took a bit of time, but Riku was starting to gain his bearings of this place again. It seemed like ages ago since he was last here. It was a better time, but now everything seemed different. They wandered for a bit before he finally found the right path into a wooded area in stark contrast to the city around it. He figured Ventus would hang out here since the small forest resembled their home quite a bit. It saddened him to think that Ventus probably recalled next to nothing of their old kingdom. He was younger than Riku and wasn't even in the epicenter of the action when they had to flee. Riku stopped as flashes of light could be seen through the trees one after the other in groups of three.

"Woah, what's that?" Sora walked over to stand at his side. Was it some kind of magic?

"Hm, seems he's staying in practice. Follow me. I know you can't be as quiet as me, but just try to be sneaky."

Riku quieted his footsteps, so he barely made any sound, keeping to the balls of his feet. Sora watched his movements carefully, trying his best to mimic them. Peeking past a rather large tree, they saw a guy with blonde hair that stood up. Sora recognized him as the one with the pointed ears from the vision. He was wearing different clothes, but it was definitely the same guy. He held a golden bow that seemed to shimmer in the light. With a practiced hand, he took an arrow and drew it into the bow.

"Jhol!" At the command, the arrow was bathed in brilliant light. That light burst out as soon as it hit the target. One of his ears twitched when Sora accidentally stepped on a twig, breaking the silence with a hollow snap. He whirled around with the bow and two more arrows in hand but instantly lowered it when he spotted Riku. For a moment, there was a look of disbelief, having to rub his eyes to be sure what he was seeing was real and not some phantom image from his dreams. With tear filled eyes, Ventus dropped the bow and arrows and came running over, instantly hugging Riku with enough force that Riku nearly fell over.

"Riku! You're okay! I..I didn't think I'd ever see you again!" He gripped onto his shirt, not ever wanting to let go. "Wh-when Roxas and I left you..you were all beaten up and bloodied."

"I know, but I'm okay. I made a promise that I'd come back for you two, didn't I? And you kept your word and stayed safe here." Riku rubbed his back soothingly. "And you've been keeping up with your archery too."

He nodded against Riku's shoulder, sniffling before pulling away to wipe away his tears.

"I'm just happy to see you in one piece." Ventus glanced over at Sora with a wave, gesturing for him to come over. "Hey, I'm Ventus, but my friends call me Ven for short. Have you been travelling with Riku?"

"Oh, yeah! I'm Sora. Nice to meet you. I have. I'm from one of the sleeping kingdoms. I guess it was Riku's mission to get me and my friend since we had woken up." Sora walked over, crossing his arms behind his head. Ventus seemed nice. It made him glad that he was with Riku in a place like Oblivion. The three of them turned their heads when they heard bushes rustling, though it was Riku and Ventus first due to their heightened hearing. A guy who looked nearly exactly like Ventus besides the more human like ears popped up, looking from Riku to Sora before sprinting over. Riku barely had enough time to prepare himself before the other ran into him to hug him too. Sora noticed the two scabbards attached to his belt. Two keyblades?

"I'm guessing you're Roxas," Sora said once they had stopped hugging, offering his hand.

"Hm? Oh, yeah. Sora, right? I overheard you guys as I was heading over here." Roxas looked Sora up and down before gladly shaking his hand.

"Sharp as ever. Where have you been?" Riku asked with an inquisitive look.

"Sorry. I was hanging out with some friends, but then Princess Namine showed up with some other people and said you were looking for me, so, uh, here I am."

"What? You were hanging out with Hayner, Pence, and Olette and didn't invite me?" Ventus pouted, turning his head to the side.

"You were busy practicing your light forms on your arrows. I wasn't about to disturb you. Besides, I should probably practice dual wielding more. Still getting the hang of it," Roxas chuckled, placing a hand on his shoulder. "I'll be sure to invite you next time. I promise."

"Well, there's much to discuss with you two, but I better talk to Namine about something first. Can I trust you two to keep Sora company?" Riku figured it was better to tell her about all that's happened now instead of waiting. She needed to know the truth. With nods from the twins, he started to head out of the wooded area.

"I won't be long," he said to Sora before disappearing past the trees.

Ventus and Roxas motioned for Sora to follow them, picking out a shady spot beneath one of the bigger trees in the area. With a sigh, Sora leaned against the massive trunk, peering up at the twilight sky.

"Seems he's at 'let's get straight to business' as usual, but I'm happy to see him doing alright." Ventus picked at the grass beneath him, smiling over at Sora.

"You know him. He's always sort of had a stick up his ass, but he means well. He has a lot on his shoulders. Maybe he should go for a dunk in a hot spring or get laid or something," Roxas said matter of factly, resulting in a laugh from Ventus and something like a snort of surprise from Sora. "I know you guys agree with me. Don't even try to deny it just because he's the prince."

"I mean, you're right. No matter what it is, he deserves some time to relax. I think I've only seen him in an almost relaxed state when we were doing little training sessions," Sora said, turning a bit red when he remembered seeing him in that tight tank top without his jacket.

"I mean, can you really blame him for being always on guard? After what Xehanort did to him or tried to do?" Ventus' smile quickly disappeared as if he was remembering something he didn't want to. Roxas went quiet as well, running his hands along the scabbard of one of his keyblades.

"What did happen if it's okay? This crystal showed me some events, and Riku told me a bit about how you guys escaped, but other than that, I don't know what happened in between," Sora said, hoping he wasn't overstepping any boundaries. He considered Riku a friend with some..added feelings.

Ventus and Roxas looked at each other for a few seconds before Roxas shrugged, taking a deep breath.

"When Xehanort found out that using Riku as a dream eater to enter the dreams of the others in the sleeping kingdoms wasn't going to work, he tried something else: making him a nightmare. He basically tried to warp Riku as a dream eater into something more sinister. I'm sure you've seen the sigil on his left arm. Well, he has an even bigger one on his back. Xehanort, with the help of other organization members and Vanitas, tried to manipulate the darkness within Riku. One time, they left the door slightly cracked, so I snuck up to it and watched to see what they were doing. It was..awful. Riku was screaming in pain, body writhing. He was shirtless so they large sigil on his back was showing. It glowed an eerie purple, and his eyes..they were wavering between his usual color and bright yellow. For a few moments, I saw these ominous looking webbed wings coming out of the sigil before disappearing. Riku is a fighter. That I know for sure. Simply trying to resist whatever they were trying to turn him into was probably so painful, but he did it. He didn't want you to worry about him. That's probably why he didn't tell you that part." Roxas took another deep breath once he was done, closing his eyes for a few moments as images flashed across them. "But, now we have a chance to make things right. Ventus and I were taken unwillingly. We were out one day and got knocked out cold by someone. When we woke up, our memory was hazy, and we were in Oblivion. To be honest, I stayed because of two friends I made in there: Xion and Axel."

"Xion's with us actually! She was spying on us, but Riku knocked her out and brought her to the Elven kingdom. Oh, sorry, I mean New Elven Kingdom. I'm sure she's anxious to see you." Sora hoped she wasn't about to try to drag Roxas back there. He had faith in her, but there was still that bit of doubt. "And..thank you for telling me about Riku. I won't push him to tell me. I just need to gain more of his trust."

"Yeah, I saw her, but seeing Riku came first. We'll have plenty of time to catch up. I'm pretty sure Axel is still with the others. I hope that I can convince him to come to our side." Sora noticed the look of sadness on his face even though he tried to play it cool with a grin.

"If Xion decided to change sides for you, then I'm sure Axel would do the same. After all, we need all the help we can get." Sora looked to the sky again, his mind swimming with thoughts. "I was wondering something. Riku's the rightful heir to the throne, right? He's around my age, so why hasn't he taken the title of king yet?"

"We've been bugging him about that too. He's twenty one. He's definitely old enough to take the responsibility, but for now, Terra still rules as Regent in his place until he's ready," Ventus said, picking up a dandelion that was nearby.

"Oh, he's the Regent Elf King? I totally called him 'your majesty.' My bad." Sora laughed, rubbing the back of his head.

"I'm sure he didn't mind. He probably got a kick out of that." Ventus studied the dandelion for a second before blowing on it. Fluffy little wisps flew up into the air. The three of them watched as they travelled along the gentle breeze into the blazing sky. "I miss him and Aqua. I can't wait to see them again."

After a moment, Roxas stood back up, stretching his arms over his head. He offered Sora a helping hand up. Sora was surprised at his strength, pulling him up onto his feet in under a second.

"Let's go meet up with the others while Riku's talking to Princess Namine. No sense in just sitting around, right?"

Ventus and Sora nodded, following after Roxas. Sora clenched his fists as he walked back out into the city. He'd make Xehanort pay for doing that to Riku. That was a promise.

_Right the wrongs of the past. _

Sora kept repeating that in his head. He was definitely going to do that. Even if it came at a cost, he would make sure this world knew peace again.


	15. Chapter 15

Riku walked along the top of the wall that surrounded Twilight Realm. The clock tower in the middle chimed as it struck three in the afternoon. The sudden sounds and reverberations from the bells caused a flock of birds to take off. The form of the flock ebbed and flowed in varying shapes. For a moment, it reminded him of the way some Heartless would hoard together to form a swirling vortex: thousands of yellow eyes staring right at him getting closer and closer..Riku shook his head, moving onto another thought. Gazing out on the other side of the wall, the Lucid Mountains were a light lavender and hazy in the distance. Forests and fields sprawled across the landscape. He remembered looking out and seeing tons of villages and towns, and now it seemed..so empty.

Sora had practically begged him to join all of them for ice cream. He had kindly declined, not feeling much for ice cream at the moment. He had told Namine everything, even the stuff he hadn't had the heart to tell Sora yet about Xehanort trying to make him into a nightmare. There was a point when he almost had given in, thinking his suffering would end. It would make things easier, but then he had thought of Sora: someone he had never met in person or at least not from what he could remember, yet he felt intricately connected to him. As expected, Namine was practically in tears by the end of it, giving him a hug tight enough to squeeze all the air out of him. He had to admit that it felt good to tell someone all that. He knew he could trust her, but he really hoped she wouldn't let any of that slip to the others.

"Brooding as usual I see, though that's par for the course for you, isn't it?"

That voice..Riku's ears perked up instantly, quickly turning around with his fists up. Long pink hair and a gaudy outfit that looked like it belonged to some stuffy royal: "Marluxia." He should've known they'd start to show up. Riku's protective instinct kicked in, reaching up to grab the handle of the keyblade across his back.

"Ah, ah, ah. Not so fast. You wouldn't want anything to happen to your..friends." Marluxia gestured to the clock tower. Riku's eyes scanned over it, gritting his teeth when he spotted a man in an eyepatch with the usual shit eating grin. Xigbar, too, huh? "Now, I'm a sensible man. Nothing like a certain prince of darkness. I've simply come to collect the traitors." Marluxia took a step in his direction, and Riku immediately took a step back.

"Traitors, huh? Doesn't that include me as well? You can try whatever you want, but Ventus and Roxas are free now. They'll never return, and I'll make sure of that." Seeing Xigbar taking aim at something, Riku lowered his hand back down to his side.

"Come, now, Riku. You have to admit that you must miss the power given to you by the darkness. Think of what you could've been as a nightmare. You'd have all the strength you need, but..something got in the way of that." Riku scowled as Marluxia looked him over, chuckling to himself. "You fell for that boy ever since you first

connected with his dreams, right? He's a tremendous reason why you clung onto the light, but your shame..you keep your distance from him still. You don't feel worthy of him if he shares the same feelings. Feel free to stop me if I'm wrong."

"Shut up already! I'm not going to discuss romance with you or what's going on with me. Just skip to the part where you say you're going to take them back no matter what," Riku snapped, getting into a fighting position.

"Bottled up feelings will find a way to leak out one way or the other. But fine. Axel?" A man with blazing red hair pulled back into a ponytail emerged from behind Marluxia. His brilliant green eyes scanned over Riku with a look of scorn. "Axel here was good friends with Roxas. The wound only deepened when Xion ran as well. A trio broken up. How sad." There was a fake sort of sadness to his voice.

"Axel, you know what the solution to this is. You can be with Roxas and Xion again that doesn't involve dragging them back there. You can join us." Riku's voice wavered, backing up slightly. He had known Axel's loyalty to the organization. He wouldn't switch sides so easily.

"You know, Roxas said something similar before. If it wasn't for you and your kingdom, things would've been different, but you just can't let things be, can you? Well, I'll show you what true loyalty is. You only had a glimpse of our side. You have no right to try to make me into a turncoat too." With a whisper of a fire spell under his breath, Axel pulled out his twin Chakrams. As he spun them, flames burst out. Riku could feel the deadly heat on his face even from where he was standing. "You have it all: a kingdom, a birthright, a prestigious past life. All I have are my friends, and you took them away!"

"Axel, wai-" One of the flaming blades of a Chakram came inches away from his face. Riku hardly had time to react as one of his feet slipped off the ledge of the wall. For a moment, fire was all he could see along with a raging heat with enough intensity to melt his face clean off. However, a cool wind swept over him, and..he was falling. He felt his stomach drop as there was nothing beneath him but air. Marluxia and Axel were getting further and further away. The twilight sky above him matched the fire that was in his face a few seconds ago. How much time was even passing right now? If he didn't do something..he was going to die. There was a part of him that seemed okay with this. He had been fighting for so long..been through so much pain. It could end in a second, but there was another part that was screaming within him like a vengeful spirit that was hellbent on changing fate. There was a stinging pain ripping across his back. The power. The power within himself that he had repressed for so long..it could save him. He didn't know how much time he had left before the he would meet the ground, but he had to try. The emblem etched into his back burned more and more as he reached for that power. _This power is mine, and no one else's. They can't control me..it can't control me. _Riku physically reached out for the sky above him as if trying to grasp onto something. With a pained cry, something burst out of his back, out of the emblem. The two points tore through his shirt and jacket, unfurling once they were free. If he hadn't been in some strange, altered state of mind the pain would've been excruciating, but all he could feel was exhilaration. He felt whatever it was that came out of his back catch the wind, starting to slow his descent. Finally, his feet touched down on the ground lightly. His eyes widened as he glanced back and saw..those webbed wings. The same ones that had come out of him when darkness had been forced onto him. Finding some amount of control now that he wasn't falling through the air, he spread them out widely. He flinched as they quickly retracted back into him as soon as he had control over his own body. Riku didn't have much time to try to figure out just what had happened as he saw that Marluxia and Axel were now gone from the top of the wall. Taking a deep breath, he willed his legs to move as he sprinted down the street, using his natural agility to hop out of the way of any pedestrians. He needed to get to them. Fast.

Sora and Kairi were joined by Roxas, Venus, and Xion along with Hayner, Pence, and Olette. They had never had sea salt ice cream before being told that it was a popular treat in this place. Sora grinned happily as flavors of both sweet and salt hit his tongue.

"We usually go up to the clock tower. It's where you can get the best view of the whole city," Hayner explained as they walked.

Sora glanced over at Kairi who was talking excitedly with Olette. He couldn't remember the last time he saw her smiling so much, and there was that hint of blush on her cheeks again. Sora gazed off to the empty space next to him. He wondered where Riku had wandered off to. Surely he had to be done talking with Princess Namine by now.

"Hey, why the glum face?" Ventus picked up the pace to walk next to Sora.

"Oh, uh, just thinking about Riku I guess. He always wanders off on his own. I just wish he'd be a little more honest with me, but maybe I'm just overthinking it." Sora continued to eat his ice cream, grimacing when the cold hit a sensitive tooth. Ventus looked him up and down with a hint of a smirk.

"You..really worry about him, huh? He's sort of always been like that. He wants to protect the people he cares about even if it means pushing himself away from them. I don't remember much from when our old kingdom was destroyed, but I remember Riku riding in on a horse. He must've come from the other city: the one his mom lived in. He was covered in ash and looked really beat up. I learned afterwards that that other city: Scala ad Caelum had fallen too. Riku became even more protective since there were only a few of us left after all that." Ventus rubbed at his thumb with his pointer finger as he talked.

"He must've lost his mom and possibly others he cared about. I guess that would explain why he's so protective," Sora said, trying to remember those details. "Thanks, Ventus. Hopefully, he'll tell me the full story soon. I just gotta get him to work on his communication."

"Hey, want me to tell you something he wouldn't want me telling you?" Another voice came from his other side. Roxas grinned as he playfully elbowed Sora.

"Roxas...what are you scheming?" Ventus sighed, though it didn't look like he was going to protest much.

"Ohhh, nothing, but you know he isn't going to say it himself. You know how he's been connected to you through your dreams, Sora? Weeeell, I know he's had a big crush on you ever since he first connected with you. But in terms of romantic stuff, I don't think he's ever gotten past pining." Roxas' grin only grew when he saw how red Sora's face turned.

"R-really? I mean, he is really handsome a-and nice. I wasn't sure if he liked me back or not," Sora stammered, trying his best not to trip over his own feet. "This is so embarrassing to ask, but since we're on the subject, has he..you know..'done stuff' with other people?"

Ventus and Roxas exchanged glances with Ventus giving a disapproving glare. "Well, yeah. I mean, like you said, he's handsome, but nothing that lasted. So, don't sweat it too much."

"Th-that's good to know. I can't really remember anything before I was put to sleep, so..I fear I'm a lot more inexperienced than him, but if he likes me back, then..I don't have anything to worry about." Sora took in a deep breath, feeling like if he asked anything else he'd eventually die of embarrassment right there.

The clock tower was now looming over them as they approached the entrance. For a moment, all was well. The group happily talked amongst each other. Though most of them had just met each other, a strong connection was there. Sora wondered if maybe many of them had met before disaster had struck.

Xion suddenly darted out in front of all of them, drawing her sword in one fluid motion.

"Hey, Xion, what's.." Kairi trailed off as she followed where Xion was looking and saw a man with long pink colored hair staring down at them. He took the weapon that was across his back into his hand in a graceful movement, revealing a deadly looking scythe. Ventus and Roxas drew their weapons a few seconds after, running up to stand next to Xion.

"Guys, who's that?" Sora kept a hand on the handle of his keyblade, staying cautious.

"Bad news. That's what: Marluxia. He's one of Xehanort's assassins. They call him 'The Graceful Assassin.'" Ventus drew three arrows, readying them in his bow.

"Assassin? But don't they want to bring us back alive or something like that?"

"Well, we don't need all of you alive." All of them practically jumped at the sudden voice, turning their heads to see a guy with scarlet hair brandishing some strange pointed weapons.

"Axel." Roxas and Xion said it almost at exactly the same time.

"Long time no see, guys. You know, it's really great when my friends just up and leave. You could've at least left a note." As he drew closer, Roxas and Xion stayed close by each other. Roxas brandished both his keyblades now: one shimmered with light in the sun while the other was dark as night.

"Listen, Axel, you can still be with me and Xion. We were misguided, and among Xehanort's ranks is not where we needed to be. Just join our side." For a moment, Roxas lowered one of his keyblades, extending a hand out.

"You just don't understand, do you? You really have no loyalty or gratitude." All of them backed up further as he started pacing towards them. "I guess if you won't come back willingly, then I'll have to make you!" There was a flourish of flames as Axel was surrounded by them. As he was about to cast those flames towards them, all of them readied themselves. Sora kept close to Kairi, protecting Hayner, Pence, and Olette with their keyblades drawn. He squeezed his eyes shut as he waited for the inevitable attack, but the heat from the fire never came. Squinting his eyes open, he saw Namine standing in front: her hands extended out as she had casted some sort of spell. A force was absorbing all of the fire until it was gone.

"That's enough! Both of you have trespassed on my kingdom. I kindly ask you to leave before I'm forced to do something drastic," she called out. Her eyes went from Axel to Marluxia.

"Well, Axel? You want to prove yourself, don't you? Take out the witch. With her gone, we won't have to fret about any more spells getting in the way of our plans," Marluxia called down. The cold words made Sora shiver. There was no warmth to them at all.

"Very well. After I take care of this, you're both coming with me. Got that memorized?" He spun the Chakrams around a few times before lunging forward with a burst of flames behind him. In a split second decision, Xion ran out in front of Namine. She readied her sword for a block not caring if she got burned in the process.

"Princess, I'll protect you." She glanced back at Namine with a reassuring smile.

"Xion! You don't have to!" It was too late for her to do anything as she watched Axel getting closer and closer. With a look of pure determination, Xion stood her ground, readying her other hand on the blade of her sword for the impact. However, that impact never came. In the last few seconds, there was a blur of silver along with the clash of metal against metal. Axel was knocked back along with someone else who skidded to a stop right in front of the others.

"You guys just don't know when to quit." Riku used his keyblade to get himself back on his feet, looking to Xion and Namine. "Are you two okay?"

"Riku! We're just fine. But..what happened to you?"

Riku glanced back at the two holes in the back of his jacket where those..things had come out.

"Oh, uh, yeah. I'm fine." It wasn't long before Sora and Kairi had rushed to his side.

"We're here to help, so don't even think about doing this on your own," Kairi said, giving him a look of disapproval.

Riku sighed as he glanced from Axel to Roxas. It had been a long time since he saw him staring so intently.

"Sora, Kairi, and I will take care of Marluxia. I can leave Axel to you, Ventus, and Xion, right?" At the nod, Riku focused on Marluxia on the tower.

"Hey! Don't forget about us!" Hayner, Pence, and Olette ran over too.

"We may not carry weapons like you guys, but we can still help out." Olette gave Kairi a smile before joining the others over by Namine.

"How about you lead the charge, Sora?" Riku pointed to where Marluxia was standing. "Hell, I can probably just toss you up there."

"T-toss me?" Sora shook his head. Now wasn't the time to be scared. He readied his keyblade in preparation. "Sure, why not?" He definitely wasn't prepared as Riku suddenly grabbed his hands.

"Oh, also, there's another guy up there: Xigbar. He'll probably start shooting at you." He didn't give Sora a chance to get another word in as he suddenly jumped up high, twirling Sora around a few times before throwing him with all his might right at Marluxia.


	16. Chapter 16

Tears from the sheer force of Riku throwing him wicked at his eyes as Sora tried to stay on target. His knuckles turned white as he gripped onto the handle of his keyblade as hard as he could. Pink hair..pink hair.. Luckily, Marluxia was rather easy to keep an eye on as he prepared to strike. Just as he was about to swipe his keyblade at him, he tumbled right through, smacking the wall. He gasped as his back squarely collided with the wall, knocking the wind out of him briefly. When he opened his eyes, he squinted at an explosion of rose petals around him. Did he just miss..at point blank range? Though he tasted blood in his mouth, Sora forced himself to stand up, looking around wildly but all he could see were the rose petals floating around.

"Prince Riku must trust you very much to toss you right at me like that knowing how I fight. You don't have much battle experience, do you?"

Sora couldn't pinpoint where the voice was coming from but now there were shots of dark magic coming at him too. They whistled past his ear whenever they were close, causing Sora to flinch. He cried out when a sudden burning pain raked down his side. One of them had skimmed past him just enough to break the skin.

"Hey, assholes! Two against one isn't fair!" he cried out, gritting his teeth as he tried his best to guard with his keyblade. He sighed in relief as a huge fireball casted from someone down below flew by, making Xigbar have to come out of his hiding spot.

"Hm, perhaps Prince Riku isn't the best influence on you." There was a dark chuckle right by his ear. Sora nearly fell over as he quickly swung his keyblade. It came into contact with something as there was a clang of metal against metal. The light pink blade of Marluxia's scythe was inches away from his face with his keyblade being the only thing holding it back, though..it was odd. If this guy was a deadly assassin, he probably could've taken Sora out easily by now. Why was he holding back?

"Sora, don't stay in those rose petals for too long." That was..Riku's voice, but it was in his head. Right now, Sora didn't have time to sweat the details. Following the advice, he swiftly kicked one of Marluxia's legs and hopped out of the floating rose petals down to a lower tier of the tower. He nearly slipped off the edge as he feet stumbled, legs feeling oddly heavy. He shook his head after a yawn, almost feeling like he was about to nod off. So that's what it was.

"Huh. I get your trick now. You wanted to put me to sleep. Your goal isn't to kill me. It's to bring me back alive somewhere, right?" Sora wore a confident smile. There was something oddly familiar with fighting Marluxia. It wasn't that he knew him before, but he found that combat like this came easily to him. Perhaps his body was starting to at least remember something. Maybe it was some kind of muscle memory that his conscious self wasn't aware of but another part was. Now, swinging around the keyblade just seemed like second nature.

"Clever boy, but even an absolute idiot could figure that out. Why would we want to kill a prince of light. It's much more entertaining to see them fall to darkness as you will eventually."

Sora stopped the swing of Marluxia's scythe, hearing it slice through the air behind him. However, as soon as he thought he had him, he'd disappear in a spiral of rose petals, zipping around Sora.

"You have to go by sound. You heard it. His scythe makes a unique sound as it slices through the air. Close your eyes and listen." It was Riku's voice again.

"Close my eyes? Are you crazy?" Sora feared he was going to end up walking right off the edge of the building if he did that.

"Just do it, pes sher."

All of Sora's own instincts were screaming not to, but with a deep sigh, he closed his eyes, engulfing his vision in darkness. Instead, he focused on the sounds around him. There was the distinct poof whenever Marluxia teleported like a ribbon running through an object. As soon as he heard the slice, he struck with his keyblade to approximately where he thought Marluxia would be. When he heard a grunt, Sora grinned triumphantly. Opening his eyes, he saw Marluxia hunched over on the ground, clutching at his head. Where the keyblade had smacked his temple, a bit of blood trickled down.

"Hmph, I'm onto your tricks, assassin."

"How clever. It seems you've retained your skillset from before you were put to sleep. We were under the impression you'd still be groggy and easy to capture as long as we could separate you from the Elven Prince. Looks like we'll have to change up our strategy." Sora backed up some when Marluxia started laughing as he got back up on his feet, swinging the scythe around a few times. "All I have to do is find out what makes you tick..lose it in a sense."

Sora kept a brave face on, readying his keyblade. What was this guy getting at.

"Ah! Those arrows hurt, you brat!" There was a voice from above, and Sora watched as an eye patched man suddenly jumped down with Ventus' light arrows following after him. "Marluxia! You really know how to plan out an attack, huh?" The tone was painstakingly mocking. Marluxia only rolled his eyes.

Glancing down towards the ground, it seemed the sniper had jumped down to where the others were. Ventus was continuing to shoot arrows along with Xion full on charging at him as soon as he landed. Roxas was busy with Axel. The two clashed again and again. Roxas' face was already singed from Axel's fire every time he struck. Not letting up for a second, Roxas slashed around with his two keyblades, striking when he could. He used his advantage of agility, weaving around any attacks with grace.

"You can join our side, Axel. I know you know you don't belong with them just as Xion and I realized," Roxas said with a grunt as a kick collided with his side.

"You don't understand. You know I was taken in by them. I owe so much to Lord Xehanort. We were all a team: friends, and just because your precious prince decided he was going to run, you decided to follow after him and leave me all alone." Roxas knew that yell and quickly dodged out of the way as slammed both the Chakrams down where he was. Roxas grit his teeth as he could practically feel the anger and desperation in his voice cutting right through him like a blade in the dark.

"If you knew what they did to him, you'd understand. What was done to all of us." A few tears of frustration dripped from his eyes. "I'm going to help you. Xion and I will help you. We're going to right the wrongs of the past." He cried out as he came charging right at him.

Sora's breath caught in his throat when he felt a cold blade right against his neck. When did he get so close. He could feel Marluxia's presence right behind him. An intent to kill was hanging thick in the air. Sora feared to breathe it in.

"I'll find out what makes you tick, lionheart. Everyone has a switch. It's just about figuring out where it is. Until next time." Once the blade was gone from his throat, Sora collapsed onto his knees, having to catch his breath. He hadn't even moved yet he felt such a paralyzing fear. The only thing that snapped him out of it was a familiar flash of silver. Riku came barreling right at Marluxia, protectively standing between him and Sora.

"Not to worry, your highness. We'll be taking our leave. I look forward to seeing how this one progresses under your charge." He smiled at Sora, though there was something else behind that smile. As Riku lunged forward, Marluxia vanished in a flurry of rose petals again, teleporting to a nearby building. "Xigbar, Axel, we're leaving. I'm sure you'll find plenty of time to fight all of them at a later date."

At that command, Xigbar happily teleported to where Marluxia was.

"Damn, kids. I tell ya, they really pack a punch. What happened to respecting your elders?"

Roxas gave Axel a pleading look as if to say "don't go with them." Axel had a similar expression but went back over to the other two with a shrug. All of them watched as the three were engulfed by shadows and soon disappeared.

"Dammit, Axel." Roxas punched at the ground once he had sheathed his keyblades.

"Roxas, we're going to save him." Xion ran up, pulling him into a hug. "This is only the first battle of many after all." Roxas only nodded solemnly as he hugged her back.

Riku slid his keyblade back into its scabbard offering Sora a hand to help him up.

"You alright? You seemed to be holding your own pretty well for a while, but Marluxia's pretty tough."

"Yeah, I'm okay. I think if he wanted me dead, he would've made that happen quickly. That last move just took me by surprise is all." A soft smile spread on his lips, happily taking Riku's hand.

They all took a moment to settle back down. Minor injuries were taken care of by Riku and Namine's magic. Namine brought them all to her mansion nestled in the woods. In such a peaceful place, it was easy to calm down again after such a sudden fight.

"That fireball you launched at the sniper was amazing, Kairi. You have such strong magic," Olette said, playfully bumping her arm.

"O-oh, you think so? It's not much, but I guess I am pretty good at my fire spells," she said with a slight stammer, nervously combing her fingers through her hair.

"Well, our time here was nice, and I'm glad to see you and your kingdom awake, Princess Namine, but I think it's time we get going to other kingdoms," Riku spoke up after clearing his throat. He hated to leave, but he felt guilty staying relatively safe in here while monsters wreaked havoc on towns and villages outside. They had to keep to their mission after all.

"Um, about that..I've decided something, and I hope you'll be alright with it, Sora," Kairi said, twiddling her thumbs.

"Oh, what is it?" Sora looked to her curiously.

"Well, I've been thinking ever since we arrived here and what I want to do. I've been contemplating it this whole time, and I..think I want to stay here for now with Princess Namine. She knows magic so well, and I think I could learn a lot from her. I also want to get even better at fighting. I know I'm strong, and I could spar with you and Riku, but I want to help protect this place. So, I'm going to stay here while you two go off on your mission. I promise that I'll join back up with you guys for the big final fight, but this is just something I need to do for myself. I've met some good friends here too."

Riku looked from Namine to Kairi with a nod.

"If that's what you want to do, go ahead. I'm sure Sora and I will be alright."

"Are you sure, Kairi? I'm really going to miss you, you know. I mean, our trio dynamic won't be the same, but I understand. We gotta figure ourselves out, try to get our lost memories back." Sora looked like he was about to start crying. Riku soothingly patted his back.

"You guys won't have to travel around and fight by yourselves. Ventus, Xion, and I will join you." Roxas wore a deadly look of determination. "Because we want to help Axel, and we won't be able to do that if we're stuck here or at home."

"Oh, great. I get to babysit," Riku teased. It wasn't uncommon to see a look like that on Roxas' face. He made it every time he wanted something and was going to get it.

"You always say that! You're only a few years older than me!"

"So? I still feel like a babysit whenever you two are around. Now, you got one more with you," Riku chuckled, unable to hold back his laughter.

"Ai maes Ai shor cor o," Roxas said quickly.

"Kai eindaer. Ai kyr byrol sai jhyri."

"Hey! I understood some of that!" Sora interjected triumphantly.

"Since when?" Riku gave him a "I totally don't buy that" face.

"Miss Aqua gave me this book. She even wrote down slang stuff too." Sora fished around in one of his pockets, pulling out a small book. There was the Elvish alphabet along with phrases and translations. "Because I want to learn your language. Then you can't get away with saying stuff behind my back."

"Huh. You know I'm actually somewhat impressed."

"Haha, I'm definitely gonna miss all the banter from you guys, but I promise we'll see each other again soon, okay?" Kairi pulled them both into a hug as they were in the middle of arguing. "Here." She took out two charms she had in her pocket. She usually used them as hair ties, but she gave one to Sora and the other to Riku. "These charms will keep us together."

Sora's eyes widened as he looked over his before tying it to his keyblade's scabbard.

"We promise, Kairi! Please take care of yourself. I'm sure you'll be just fine here. Learn even bigger and better spells." Sora hugged her again for a bit longer, trying to take in what this felt like before pulling away.

"You promise you'll look after him, Riku? You know how Sora can be."

"You have my word." Riku knelt onto one knee much like a knight would. He would keep Sora safe. He had to. It was difficult to put into words, but the connection called him to. He chuckled to himself, thinking how comical it must look for a prince to bow.

Around morning the next day, Namine organized three horses for them all. Most of the supplies were loaded onto the horse only Ventus would be riding on. Roxas and Xion paired up on the other followed by Riku and Sora.

"I'll keep you close in my heart, Kairi. I'm sure we'll all be stronger when we meet again." Sora held out his hand, giving hers a squeeze once she took it.

With a final wave, Riku urged his horse forward, and the other two followed shortly after. He looked to the sky, watching the massive gates open again to a less friendly world outside. Marluxia had definitely been trying to capture Sora alive. He was going to find out the reason for it, though just thinking about it put a weight on his chest.


	17. Chapter 17

_A bright light. Sora was engulfed by darkness with only a single beacon of light ahead of him. He clutched at his chest as he tried to make sense of where he was exactly. There were no stars..just an empty void. Usually, this space was filled with dreams and images. Not having much of a choice, he began walking towards that light. Squinting his eyes, he noticed it morphing and changing into something. Before him was a sigil of light with sweeping arcs that came together to form the symbol. That was..the mark on Riku. He gasped when he noticed something beneath the symbol: a brilliant silvery white unicorn. Its mane shimmered in the ghostly light, seeming to flow as if a wind was blowing by, though the air was completely still. When Sora dared to take another step, the unicorn turned. When their eyes met, Sora recognized the eyes of the unicorn: They were the same as Riku's. _

'_Riku? Is that you?' Sora held out a hand as he took baby steps forward, hoping the other recognized him. The unicorn seemed to nod, starting to walk towards Sora as well. Sora smiled at the familiar, kind eyes, walking a bit faster now. A star shaped mark, the very same shape as the birthmark on Riku's forehead lined the base of the horn. Sora gazed up in wonder as the horn began to glow and glimmer with magic. _

'_You..have something to show me, don't you?' Riku nodded, lowering his head so the tip of the horn gently touched Sora's forehead. As soon as it did, the landscape around them began to move rapidly. Lights and scenes blurred past: memories that Sora recognized and some that were not his own. As light grew brighter and brighter, he was forced to close his eyes as he could hardly keep them open anymore. _

_As the air stopped, an intense heat nearly knocked him off his feet. Sora shielded his face for a moment before slowly opening his eyes. _

'_What in the..' Before him was a vast city: alabaster buildings took up the whole landscape. The blades of the nearby windmills were crumbling in a blaze of fire. The wind that blew past was only making the inferno overtaking the city grow and grow. Atop the mountain, at its peak, a fortress stood, though it was quickly being overtaken by the fire. People ran about in a panic, tripping over each other. From what Sora could see, most of them were elves. He could recognize a few of the words they were shouting, placing a hand over his heart. What was going on? Why was Riku showing him this? _

'_All of you need to get out of here now! Take the prince and go as far away as you can.' There was a man with dark hair pulled up and brandishing a keyblade. In front of him were younger versions of Terra, Aqua, Ventus, Roxas, and Riku. All of them looked scared out of their minds. Their faces were dirtied by ash and eyes watery from the sheer heat of the fires. _

'_What about..my mom? Is she..she didn't..' Riku stammered. He was trying his best to hold back the tears, but his words came out in little warbles as he kept Ventus and Roxas close. _

'_She's gone, Prince Riku. You're the heir now. She used all her strength and magic to protect you and that..thing.' _

'_His name is Vanitas, and I know this isn't entirely his fault!' _

'_Master Eraqus, we want to stay and help. We won't leave you to fight Xehanort along with Vanitas and the others of his organization,' Aqua spoke up, placing a hand on Riku's shoulder. _

'_This place is beyond saving. Soon, it'll be nothing more than a city of ash and dust by morning. You must carry on the hope of our people. The art of the keyblade must not die out and be solely in the hands of the darkness. Here.' Eraqus took a moment to look at his own keyblade before handing it to Aqua. 'Take it. Your own keyblade was shattered, so you'll need this.' _

'_But..why? Won't you need it to fight?' Aqua reluctantly took it, holding it close to her. _

'_I won't need it any longer. I've accepted my fate. It's time I confront my long lost friend and put an end to this. Go to Radiant Garden, and if the worst has happened, go beyond the Lucid Mountains. You'll be safe there.' Eraqus knelt down, tenderly patting Riku on the head. 'Carry on the light your mother gifted to you. Right the wrongs of the past. Succeed where I failed. All of you.' _

_From some nearby flames, a shadowy form emerged. The shadow danced amidst the flames for a moment before someone emerged followed by a group of fast moving creatures. The yellow eyes seemed to glow along with the flames along with a sinister smile plastered on his face. _

'_Going somewhere?' _

'_Go now, all of you!' _

_Eraqus charged at the boy with the monsters while Riku was tugged along by Aqua and the others towards the edge of the city. There was one final scene of the city burning, and in the distance, to the west, another pillar of smoke was rising into the night sky, blocking out the light of the moon. _

Sora gasped and coughed as he woke up violently, feeling like he was literally pushed out of the dream. He wheezed for a moment as his chest rose and fell. Taking a moment, he closed his eyes and got his breathing back to a slow, steady pace. Gazing around at the campsite they had made, the embers of what once had been a fire still glowed faintly. Roxas, Venus, and Xion were still fast asleep, seemingly unfazed by Sora suddenly waking. Looking up towards the top of a hill, he saw Riku sitting on a rock, bathing in the moonlight. As fast as he could, he scrambled up the hill, gritting his teeth as he scraped his knee on some prickly plants.

"Riku!" He ran up to him as if he hadn't seen him in ages, quickly taking a seat next to him. He wasn't sure what else to do, so he hugged him tightly, finding some comfort in Riku's strong body against his own.

"So, you saw it. I figured showing it to you in a dream would be easier than trying to put it into words. You get the full range of emotions that way." Riku kept his tone even, trying his best to deal with the sudden hug.

"That was what happened, wasn't it? That was..Scala ad Caelum, right? You guys were all so young. And your mom..she sacrificed herself to save you?" Sora eventually let go of him but still stuck close by him as he sat down again.

"Yeah, Xehanort came in. I think he was intending on taking Vanitas but also me as well." Riku kept his eyes on the moon high in the sky. "She used all the magic she had to at least drive him back, but..Vanitas joined him anyway." He paused for a moment. "Sora, do you have time for a longer story? I..I'm trying to be more honest with you. I shouldn't leave you in the dark. You should know how this all started, and it's more than the dream showed you."

A little grin appeared on Sora's face, but seeing the serious look on Riku, he quickly gave a serious look of his own. "Yes, I'm ready if you are, but we can take it in steps. Maybe you tell me pieces of the story every night or so. How about that?"

Riku couldn't help but chuckle, responding with a nod. "Sounds good. You saw Master Eraqus, so I'll tell you about him and Xehanort." Riku took a moment to take a breath and piece together events he remembered. "This was before I was born, but from what my mom told me, Eraqus and Xehanort used to friends; however, a schism formed between them: a schism of light and darkness. Because of his use of the darkness and growing powers, Xehanort was exiled from our kingdom. I guess they didn't see a place for it in a kingdom of light. However, years later, Eraqus received word from Xehanort that he wanted to meet with him. He couldn't just ignore someone who had once been his best friend, so he went away somewhere in secret. I don't know what transpired between them, and my mom didn't know either. It was around midnight when Eraqus returned. With him, he brought a child with dark hair and yellow eyes. Now, yellow eyes are a sure sign of someone who is aligned with the darkness, entrenched in it. That child was Vanitas. From what Eraqus had said, Xehanort had brought this child, saying he was his son, but he couldn't take the responsibility of caring for him. Eraqus was reluctant, but the desperate look in Xehanort's eyes was too much. He took in Vanitas but begrudgingly. Vanitas' abilities feed off negative emotions, so whenever he was sad or angry or something in between, monsters would appear: monsters of his own creation. Because of this, many regarded him as a monster. None of the kids wanted anything to do with him and neither did Eraqus. I suppose loneliness wouldn't even begin to describe how he felt. That certainly didn't help with him controlling the monsters. However, my mom was the only one that showed him kindness. She'd invite him to walk with her. He basically became her second son. I considered us friends. I was the only one to invite him to hang out or go horseback riding with me. I wanted to help him. No one should ever feel that isolated. Then, the attack happened without warning. Xehanort and his organization invaded Scala ad Caelum. He told Vanitas he wanted to welcome him back with open arms: that he could be a father to him again, and Vanitas fell for that hook, line, and sinker. He wanted acceptance, and as it was coming from his father, he eagerly took that opportunity."

"Is that why you went them in Oblivion? For Vanitas?" Sora asked after a moment of silence, taking in all that Riku was telling him.

"It was part of the reason. The other was I wanted to understand why Xehanort did that. He could've just left us alone, and things would've been just fine. All I know was my mom played a big part in this, and I'm still trying to figure out what exactly that was. So, um, there you go: the events leading up to now." Riku's hands shook slightly. He didn't think he was going to say that much, but the words just sort of flowed, and he kept going.

"It's funny. The start is so simple: two friends grow apart. Weird how something as big as this can start out so small. What's that called? The butterfly something?"

"Butterfly effect. Yeah, that's a good term for it," Riku said, covering his mouth as he tried not to laugh.

"Hey! I'm not the best with words sometimes, okay?" Sora playfully jabbed at his side, laughing along with him. "You know, it's nice to hear you opening up to me about this stuff, but I'd like it if you were more honest with me about stuff that happens to you when I'm not there. Like, the back of your jacket was all ripped up earlier, but all you ever say is 'I'm fine.' You don't have to tell me now, but don't be afraid to tell me when you're not okay."

"I, uh, yeah, sorry. I'll try to be better about that. I guess I just don't like to make people worry. Kind of a habit," Riku said with a shrug. Sora was right. The feeling of those wings coming out of him..he could still feel the stinging pain as they ripped through his back. It was the same as what they did to him back in Oblivion.

"Hehe, gotta give me some of your honesty, Riku," Sora teased, sticking out his tongue at him. "Shake on it?"

Riku looked from Sora's face to his outstretched hand a couple of times before sighing in defeat. There was no way he could say no to those eyes. "Yeah, deal." He took Sora's hand in a firm handshake. Riku looked around for a moment to be sure the others were still asleep. This was an opportunity, and if he was going to be like a knight to Sora following his promise to Kairi, then he'd take it. He hesitated a moment before gently bringing Sora's hand up to his lips, planting a chaste kiss on his knuckles. "And I promise I'll protect you no matter what."

Sora's face immediately turned bright red. Riku could feel a hint of a tremble in his hand, but he made no attempt to pull it away.

"I..I'll do the same for you. We'll protect each other." There was a moment of peaceful silence between them as they both gazed up at the moon. Riku always found comfort in it. He wasn't sure if it was just because it was always there, always the same or if it had to do with his past life.

"Hey, Riku?"

"Hm?"

"You're really pretty..as a unicorn. I-I mean you're pretty as you are now obviously! But..j-just thought you should know."

Riku clenched his fists as he felt his heart practically flutter at those words, having to look somewhere else. "Thanks, Sora."

It was midday by the time all of them reached a town. It was in the middle of a large open field. The border of it was lined with trees, making it stand out starkly against the flat landscape. As soon as they made it past the trees into the main part of the town, the whining was already starting.

"Rikuuu, we're hungry!" Roxas spoke up, urging his horse to trot alongside Riku and Sora's.

"You guys ate at the campsite," Riku replied flatly, side glancing him. "My money is limited, you know."

"Yeah, but that was hours ago, and this is a town with actual good food. I bet there's so much stuff Xion hasn't tried yet. Come on!"

Riku blinked a few times, getting that same annoyed feeling whenever a fly was buzzing by his ear. He slowed his horse to a stop as he pulled out the small pouch. He took out most of the coins that were left, handing them to Roxas. "There. Go eat. Happy now?"

"Thanks!" It was only a few seconds later that they hopped off the horse quickly followed by Ventus as all of them ran towards town.

"Geez. See what I mean when I said I'd be a babysitter?" Riku tilted his head a bit towards Sora behind him.

"Yeah, I can see what you mean, but it's good to see them having fun."

"Get some semi healthy food at least!" He shouted over to them. Riku led the other horses over to a fenced in area near the stables. He clicked his teeth as he checked the money pouch, seeing that there were very little coins left now. "Ugh, I'm gonna have to do some odd jobs to get us more money."

"Wow, an Elven Prince doing odd jobs?" Sora teased, accepting Riku's hand to help him off the horse.

"Well, since our kingdom is so small now and in hiding, funds are pretty low. It's nothing I haven't had to do before. I'll just check around town for anyone who needs help with something. There's always something for a strong elf to do."

"I bet all you'd have to do is show off your biceps and bat your eyelashes, and you'll get jobs in no time." Sora winked at him, yawning as he stretched his arms over his head. "I'll help too."

"Hm, we'll see if anyone wants help from a shortie like you." Riku reached over to ruffle his hair. It was funny just how comfortable they were getting with each other already. "Let's go then while those troublemakers are busy stuffing their faces."

"Hey! I can be short and useful!" Sora raced off after him before Riku got too far away.


	18. Chapter 18

Riku slipped off his short sleeved jacket, tying it around his waist and leaving him in just his tank top. He was most likely going to be spending today sweating under the sweltering sun, so he might as well start early. Typical that the others got to run around and have fun while he took care of business. He had offered Sora the option to opt out and have fun with the others. It was his princely duty to take care of everyone after all.

"No, I don't mind helping you out. I..like spending time with you even if we'll be working," Sora had replied with his usual happy grin. It was a grin Riku found difficult to say no to.

"Fine, whatever. I don't want to hear any complaining though."

In the middle of the bustling town was a bulletin going over the various events along with job postings. Riku wanted odd jobs: something that wouldn't take a lot of commitment. Simply, get the job done and get paid. Sora stood right by him in an almost protective sort of way, seeing all the eyes on Riku.

Riku couldn't help but chuckle at a posting left by two older ladies who ran the inn.

"We need someone big and strong and possibly handsome to help with repairs on the outside of the inn. You will get paid extra if you can get most of it done today." It was signed with their names followed by a heart. If it was an inn, that could get them a decent amount of money, at least enough to keep going on their journey. After all, he had three other mouths to feed now.

"You up for some hard labor?" he asked Sora, turning to face him once he was done reading. "They have a job at the inn fixing up some of the exterior stuff. If anything, you can just hold nails for me."

"Hey! I can do more than just hold stuff for you!" Sora pouted, puffing up his cheeks so much that Riku feared his face was going to explode.

"Geez, I'm just teasing you. We'll see what you can do," Riku laughed, ruffling Sora's hair.

As they started to walk, Riku took notice of how close Sora stayed by him, almost walking out in front of him.

"Do you have to walk so close to me?" The heat from the sun was enough. He didn't need someone's body heat right by him.

"Well, it's just..a lot of people were staring at you, so I thought I should stay close by just in case. I know elves aren't commonly seen, so I guess they're just staring out of curiosity, but still."

Riku chuckled, tentatively giving Sora's shoulder a squeeze. "I appreciate the gesture, but I've been on my own out here for a while. It's very rare I run into people who would try to do something malicious to me or capture me or whatever. Besides, we have more dangerous adversaries to worry about than villagers."

"Yeah, you're right. I..I'm not sure why I'm being so protective..sorry." Sora sighed, backing off a bit. That familiar heat flashed across his cheeks as he took to rubbing at his own arm. He still had to piece together these "feelings" that inexplicably happened whenever he was around Riku.

As they walked down the dirt path, the inn slowly crept up in the distance. From the look of it, it seemed like a storm had passed through recently. The roof was a wreck with tiles strewn about. Collapsed lattices hung low off of the walls, teetering towards the ground. Riku was certain this would take more than just a day to fix, but he'd try his best with Sora helping him. If needed, he could drag Roxas, Ventus, and Xion over. He waved at two older ladies sitting at the porch off on the side of the building as they drew closer. Him and Sora leaned their keyblades in their scabbards against a nearby tree that was close enough where they could keep an eye on them.

"Hey there. We're here for the job you posted about fixing up your inn," Riku said with a bow which Sora mimicked a few seconds later.

"Ah, just what we need! A big, strong elf." The taller one appeared rather excited as she looked over Riku. Sora made a face as he stood the same way Riku did. Riku had to hold back a laugh when he happened to glance at Sora.

"So, what happened here? A storm or something?" Riku began to walk with her as she showed them the property.

"You could say that. It was those monsters. They came through here and messed everything up. We got lucky. Most of the damage is only to the outside of the inn."

Taking a closer look, Riku noticed the visible claw marks on the walls. He ran his fingers along the rough etchings, feeling the splinters from the wood rubbing coursely against his skin. "They bore a strange sigil. It's not the one the Heartless have."

"Unversed most likely. They're monsters that originate from one person. He can create them. He must've passed through here." This was good..well bad too. It meant they were on Vanitas' trail.

"That's rather frightening," she sighed, her frown deepening as she looked over the extent of the damage with him. "You elves have had it rough, haven't you? I barely see elves anymore."

"We hide away in our own secret kingdom. Only a few of us who are strong venture out along with the ones responsible for this whole mess. I'm sorry that you humans got dragged into this whole mess." Riku shook his head before he rambled on further. Sometimes, when he was dreaming deeply about both the past and the future, he often wondered if the world would be better off if they all disappeared to whatever realm the creatures of the ancient past went to to leave this world to the humans. Would it be peaceful? "Sorry, we should get to work." He gestured for Sora to come over. "He'll be helping me. I think this may take us a few days, but we'll get it done one way or another. If needed, I have others here that I can drag over here to help." Sora happily bounced over, giving her his biggest smile.

"My name is Sora! I'm happy to help."

The innkeeper looked over Sora with a strange familiarity. "It's nice to meet you, Sora. You..I'm not sure what it is, but something about your face seems familiar to me. However, it's like a distant memory I just can't seem to reach..oh! Now I'm starting to ramble." She laughed it off as she shook her head. "I'll let you boys get to work. My wife over there is making lemonade. Feel free to stop inside if you need a break." She patted both their heads before going inside to escape the heat.

"She recognized me?" Sora tilted his head to the side as he watched her go.

"Perhaps a past citizen of your old kingdom before the sleeping spell. That's my guess. It saved many lives, but it left this land broken and fragmented. Now, instead of kingdoms, it's merely patches of little villages trying to hold on." Riku gave Sora's shoulder a squeeze before walking over to a pile of supplies.

Sora watched as Riku easily scaled the building, hopping from window to window until he was up on the roof.

"Toss me the spare shingles and tools." He paced around, surveying what needed patching up.

"Toss them? You sure?" Sora held the supplies apprehensively as he gazed up at him. Riku was an elf..but still.

"Yeah, just give them a good toss. I'll catch them."

One spare shingle at a time, Sora used all his strength to launch them into the air. Riku had to jump at different angles here and there, but he managed to get all of them, giving Sora a thumbs up once he had everything he needed. Sora chuckled as he shook his head. No matter how small it seemed, Riku never ceased to amaze him.

Sora was only a few minutes into painting the side of the building where the claw marks were when the heat was starting to get to him. His skin shone under the sun in a sheen of sweat. Eventually, he had to pry off his shirt and chainmail, leaving him in just his tank top. Him and Riku being there had attracted a few onlookers. His face heated up like nothing else whenever he looked over and caught one of them waving at him. Despite that, Sora tried his best to focus on the job.

A sudden tap on his shoulder nearly made him shriek, breaking his concentration as he whipped around. The girl standing there nearly dropped the glass of lemonade she was holding with a shriek of her own.

"S-sorry to scare you. I just thought that it's pretty hot out, and you might want a drink. Wouldn't want you getting dehydrated or anything," she chuckled nervously as she held out the glass to him.

"Oh, thank you! I forgot about that. I probably would've passed out while working." He wiped his hands on his shirt, which were splattered with paint, and carefully took the glass. In mere seconds, the lemonade was gone followed by a satisfied sigh. "I'm Sora by the way."

"I'm Syeda. Nice to meet you." She smiled as she took the glass back, fidgeting with the hem of her shirt with the other hand. "I'm guessing you're not from around here? Are you guys adventurers or something?"

"Something like that. We've been travelling around. I'm hoping we'll be able to stop the monsters," Sora said, leaning against the side of the building. The shade was a nice shelter from the sun, but it still felt sweltering hot.

"Oh, I see. You're just passing through, then. Well, I don't know how long you guys are staying for but..if you want recommendations on where to stay, this inn run by my grandmas is really nice..really good food too." She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "I always love hearing all the stories the travellers have, though it's sad to know they're not staying for long. The interactions never feel permanent."

"I can imagine that is a bit sad, but I'm sure you have friends that live here, right?" Sora hadn't known the feeling of being stuck in one place since he only had hazy memories of his time before going to sleep. Even after, he never really felt lonely since he had Kairi and other people around. Before Riku came along, he had no idea how huge the world was. There was only the woods and the sea. He recalled spotting an island in the distance out in the water. Whenever he gazed at it, it was like someone was there watching him as well..something was always calling.

"A few, yes. Although, the friend groups in this town are a bit..cliquey. But I treasure the friends I have, and my grandmas are great. Maybe I'll be able to travel too someday, but for now, I have my duty here. It's the weirdest thing. This place feels like home to me, but there's something in the back of my mind..it's like a dim light I just can't reach. It tells me that my real home is elsewhere, and I see an ocean, but that's all I can get from it." She placed a hand over her heart with a look of reverence on her face. When she looked at him again, the sun shone over them. He hadn't noticed the faint, dark freckles along her face before. She looked..really pretty actually. Sora nearly stumbled backwards when he noticed he had been staring too long. They both glanced away from each other for a moment.

"Syeda, I know you'll get to go on great adventures soon, especially once the world is a more peaceful place. I know the sleeping spell messed everyone up. People can't remember their true homes, but I'm hoping to fix that," Sora said with a nod. "But for now, I could tell you all about my own adventures at dinner."

"I..I'd like that, Sora."

A sudden burst of wind from Riku jumping down from the roof and landing between them sent Sora backwards, falling onto his butt. The suspicious glare from Riku was icy enough to make him shiver even in the heat.

"You finished up with painting, Sora?" he asked as if he hadn't given him and Syeda the fright of their lives.

"Uh, a-almost, Riku. Just have to do a little more."

Riku turned his head back to the front, looking Syeda up and down. His ears twitched slightly as he tuned in to her heartbeat.

"S-sorry! I distracted him for a bit. I'll get you some lemonade too! I forgot you were up on the roof." She staggered for a moment before quickly bowing and running back into the inn.

"Letting yourself get distracted by girls, Sora?" Riku couldn't help but laugh at Sora's reddened cheeks as he helped him up.

"Am not! She walked up to me, so I figured I'd be polite and talk to her while she gave me a glass of lemonade." Sora promptly stuck his tongue out. His face went an even darker shade of red when his feet stumbled on getting pulled up, and he pressed against Riku's chest for a moment before quickly pulling away and dusting himself off. It took everything in him to not stare at those biceps which appeared even bigger than usual due to Riku hammering shingles down. "Wait, did you come down because you were done..or because you heard me talking to a girl and got..jealous."

"Trying to put shame on me now, huh? I am done with the roof, pes sher." Riku held his head up high with a "hmph" of indignation.

"Then I guess you won't mind if I talk to her some more tonight," Sora teased, poking at Riku's shoulder.

"You can do whatever you want as long as you're ready to finish this job tomorrow morning," Riku stabbed back matter of factly, though his eye twitched slightly. Riku took a box of nails and handed it to Sora without warning, making him nearly fall over at the sudden weight. "You hand me nails while I batten down some boards."

The teasing must've worked because Riku marched off without another word, grabbing some boards and going over to the first bit of damage. Riku couldn't tell if Sora was doing this on purpose or just being blissfully unaware. No matter how sharp his senses were, he still couldn't figure him out. He held a hand out whenever he needed a nail, carefully hammering the boards into place. The way he worked was careful and calculated using steady hands. Sora would by lying if he said he hadn't maybe focused more on Riku's hands and muscles than the actual work he was doing. Riku sometimes had to snap his fingers to get Sora's attention when he needed another nail when Sora was off in la la land.

When he was finally done for now, Riku used his forearm to wipe some sweat off his forehead which was already making his bangs stick together.

With another round of lemonade, Sora followed Riku over to a lone tree where they both sat down. Riku breathed a sigh of relief at finally being able to rest, feeling his muscles starting to unwind some. The pressure going off his lower back was sweet relief.

"Sorry if I sounded rude back there. If you want to hang out with that girl and talk, you should. Peaceful times in towns like this won't happen very often for our group, so we should take advantage of that," Riku said after a long pause of silence, twiddling his fingers.

"I would like to talk to her since she seems pretty cool," Sora started, glancing at Riku a couple of times. The last moment they had been close like this was after they had danced in the Elven kingdom. Sora took advantage of that and unabashedly leaned against Riku. They were both sweaty anyway. "But I like being around you too, even if you do act..bitchy a lot."

"Well, excuuuse me." Riku snorted a bit as he laughed, not really minding the closeness since he was rather exhausted himself. "Guess I'm just the biggest bitch of all then. You deserve to have fun when you can, so don't let me stop you."

There were so many thoughts swimming around in Sora's head: all the things he wanted to say to Riku..confess to him, but..was it the right time? Sora grabbed a handful of grass, clenching it in his fist.

"Thanks, Riku, but you deserve to have fun too. Maybe we could do some stargazing again. I always like looking up at the moon with you. There's something..calming and familiar about it, so how about that?" It was strange. It felt like something they had done many, many times before. Even before Riku had shown up, he felt his presence in the light of the moon like an invisible phantom that seemed tangible only to disappear if he tried to reach out and touch it.

"Sure, I'd like that, Sora."

Sora grinned, daring to rest his head against Riku's shoulder. He took deep breaths to quiet the beating of his heart.


	19. Chapter 19

When Sora made was about to go into the inn, he spotted the other three relaxing under the shade of a nearby tree eating what looked to be some kind of icecream. Something cold did sound nice after working away in the hot sun.

"Hey, guys." Sora waved as he walked over to them, promptly plopping down on the ground, fanning himself.

"Hi, Sora! How'd working with Riku go?" Ventus offered him the other half of his ice cream which Sora happily accepted. He wasn't exactly a fan of the salty taste of it, but just the coldness alone of it was enough.

"He was probably a big bitch the whole time. Riku's the worst when it's hot out," Roxas added with a snide smirk.

"You have experience with that?" Xion elbowed him with a laugh. It was good to see her all carefree. Sora still wondered what exactly all of them had gone through in that place called Oblivion.

"W-well, he used to make me help him with work stuff, and it sucked. He never picked you, Ven. Lucky." Sora tried his best to hold back a laugh as Roxas puffed up his cheeks indignantly.

"I was always busy training with Aqua and Terra. Not my fault." Ventus glanced over Sora curiously, perking up his ears. "You seem happy, Sora. Riku seems to have a soft spot for you."

"O-oh? You think so?" Sora felt like hiding his face but looked elsewhere instead. Had they noticed it too? Whenever he thought about Riku, his chest felt tight and his heart would beat and beat. It was the same feeling he had felt in his dreams which now he figured Riku had always been there. It really was like something out of a fairy tale. "He's usually pretty nice, but he seemed a bit pissed when I was talking with a girl from this town."

"Haha! Oh man, he got jealous." Roxas burst out laughing, slapping his leg a few times.

"Well, I did offer for us to go stargazing, so maybe that'll make him less..jealous." Was that what it had been? He did even make a show of jumping off the roof between them. Sora smirked at the thought of Riku simply getting pissed off from that. It was kinda...cute.

"Can you blame him, Roxas? You remember how he used to tell us about Sora's dreams, though he didn't know his name at the time. From what they told us about dream eaters, they have a deep connection with the other person's dreams and become extremely protective," Ventus said, though it was directed more at Sora.

When he was engulfed by dreams during the sleep spell, Sora remembered that whenever Riku was around, there was a starry sky overhead, though he never saw Riku as himself: usually a shadow with webbed wings or the unicorn. At the time, he had never questioned the identity of the being. Part of him didn't feel like it was necessary. He was content with knowing that something was there watching over him. The strange part was that those blurry images: the unicorn, the wings, the night sky, were really all he could remember from that time. The rest, all that he told him or what he did in those dreams, were all opaque and difficult to make out. His head started pounding whenever he tried to remember. Before that started, he stood up, looking towards the inn in the distance.

"Well, I should get washed up. I'm like ridiculously sweaty right now. See you guys later!" Sora waved before making his way back over there. Riku..he wondered why he always seemed so close yet so distant. It was like whenever Sora tried to reach out to him, he moved further away. The way he behaved..he must feel the the same..just maybe. Sora figured stargazing tonight was a good a time as any to try to close the gap between them.

Once Sora was in the room Riku had reserved, he started to pry off his sweaty clothes that were practically sticking to his skin. In the tiled corner, he filled up a bucket with cool water, starting to wash himself off. The cold water against his hot skin was sweet relief as he leaned his back against the cool tile. He'd definitely need to wash his clothes before tonight. Just thinking about going stargazing with Riku put a smile on his face, but at the same time, his heart beat faster as he thought what he was going to say exactly. "Hey, Riku, I think I might be..kind of in love with you?" Was that too forward?

Sora froze when he heard the door opening. The room conveniently had the washing area just right in the corner with no privacy whatsoever. Cyan eyes met sapphire ones as Riku nonchalantly walked into the room until he spotted Sora's bare back as he had turned around in the last second. His eyes scanned over him, following the curve of his back until he made himself look over to the window.

"Oh, s-sorry. I didn't know you were washing up in here. I can go," he blurted out, words coming out quickly in sheer embarrassment.

"No, it's okay! I was just finishing up," Sora blurted back, quickly scrubbing himself off. He nearly fell over as he reached for the nearest towel, tying it around his waist. Riku's whole face was red at this point. It didn't help that Sora was still only wearing a towel with his bare chest on display. "Well, I'll give you some privacy to wash up. I'm gonna go wash my clothes. Uh, see you later!" Sora figured it was fine just walking around in a towel. It was hot out after all, and after that, the room felt scorching. Once he was out of the room, he sighed as he facepalmed. Yeah, that was real smooth.

As the day went on, the sun slowly dipped towards the horizon, unleashing a multitude of colors against the sky. The sky began to turn indigo like the green of an ancient sea. Sora's clothes had dried quickly in the heat of the day, wearing them now instead of just the towel. Sora was enjoying dinner with Syeda, happy to eat some good food that wasn't stuff they just cooked over a fire or the Elven survival food. When she asked about Riku, Sora's was thrown back to that embarrassing moment earlier.

"So, you're going stargazing with him? Any special reason or just for fun?" she asked after taking a drink. Her dark eyes looked over him curiously.

"Oh, well..can you keep a secret?" Sora was sure he was safe in telling her about it. After all, she didn't know the others well..though the other three probably already knew anyway. With a nod from her, Sora took a deep breath as he collected his thoughts.

"It's kind of hard to explain, but I've known Riku for a long time. We hadn't met in person until a few weeks ago, but I just feel this connection to him. He's always been there..in my dreams. I know that probably sounds really weird, but it's the truth. I want..to at least try to express my feelings to him. Whether he feels the same or not, it's just something I need to get off my chest, or I feel like I'm going to explode." Sora circled his finger along the rim of the glass.

"Ah, I see. You have a crush on him, and you want to express your feelings, right? I think stargazing is the perfect setting to do that," Syeda said with a nod. "Haha, no wonder he looked so pissed off at you talking to me."

"I swear he's actually really sweet, a bit sassy and hard to read sometimes, but sweet. You see, in my dreams, whenever Riku was around, there was always a starry sky. In there, I think the night sky symbolized him or something like that. I figured because of that stargazing was the best way to go about this. It's something familiar to both of us." Sora found that the more he talked to her, the easier it was to form these feelings into words which is exactly what he needed right now. "Thank you, Syeda. I feel a bit better now talking to you. I think..I can do this!"

"Yeah! I believe in you. You have a strong heart." She smiled brightly, accepting the high five.

"A strong heart?" Sora placed a hand over his chest. Did he really?

"Of course. I'm not sure why, but I can tell. My old memories are foggy still, but the feelings from the forgotten memories still stick with me. I know you have a strong heart."

Glancing out the window, the sky was turning darker with a few stars beginning to twinkle. "Well, thanks for talking with me. I should probably meet up with Riku. It'll be night soon. I'll see you later!" Sora chugged the rest of his water before waving and heading to the inn's porch. Riku had agreed to meet him there around dusk. Although it was just stargazing, Sora still kept his keyblade fastened to his belt. It was a weapon special to him after all. He wouldn't know what to do if it got stolen.

Half an hour had gone by and still no sign of Riku. Sora sat on the steps and watched as the sky grew darker and darker with more stars popping up. Where could he be? It wasn't like him to just not show up. Sora sighed, resting his chin on his knees with a hollow, anxious feeling in his chest. He glanced up when he heard footsteps, seeing Roxas, Ventus, and Xion approaching.

"Oh, hey, guys," Sora said with a half hearted wave.

"Where's Riku? Isn't he supposed to be hanging out with you?" Ventus asked as he glanced around. "It's not like him to just disappear like this."

"Wait, did he stand you up? Oh, I'm gonna kick his ass." Roxas was already rolling up his sleeves, getting ready to go.

"Rox, he wouldn't do that. He cares a lot about Sora. Something must be up." Ventus chuckled as he placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Well, you know how he gets sometimes. He's all like 'oh, I wanna be alone blah blah..' Stuff like that. Sora, I will kick his ass for you." Sora couldn't help but laugh a bit at just how worked up Roxas was getting.

"It's fine, really. Maybe something came up. I mean, we are on an important mission and all," Sora sighed, though he seem to shake the empty feeling in the pit of his stomach. As Ventus was busy trying to hold Roxas back from running off, Xion peered around cautiously. Sora noticed a strange look on her face.

"Something's wrong.." she muttered and placed a hand on the hilt of her sword. Just as the other two glanced over, some kind of dark goop was slithering its way towards them from the shadows. They had little time to react as shadowy creatures ranging from big to small appeared from the goop, surrounding the inn. Each of them bore a strange emblem that Sora didn't recognize, but the other three seemed to be all too familiar with them. They quickly drew their weapons, backing up towards Sora. A multitude of red eyes peered back at them with nothing but malicious intent.

"Unversed," Ventus and Roxas both said. Roxas clutched at both his keyblades until his knuckles turned white.

"Oh, no, those monsters! They're back." Syeda peered out from the doors of the inn. "But why? What did we do to them?"

"It's not your fault. They're controlled by one person: Vanitas." Sora followed Roxas' gaze and saw a person walking in amongst the monsters. A cold, wicked laugh echoed throughout. Sora backed up some when he saw piercing yellow eyes.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't Roxy and Venty. Good to see you both," Vanitas cackled, stopping just a few feet away from them. "Thought someone was following my trail."

"Where's Riku? What did you do to him?" All of them stared at Sora at the sudden shout out of nowhere. All that was going through Sora's head were the scenes he had seen of Riku's memories with Vanitas beating him half to death. "You've done something terrible to him again, haven't you?"

"Haha, oh we meet at last, Sora: his little dream boyfriend. I'd love nothing more than a rematch with the Elven prince, but I haven't done anything to him. You have my word. I'm here for all of you." Vanitas drew his keyblade, pointing it directly at them. "Me and my Unversed."

"And how can I trust anything you have to say?" Sora mimicked his movements, drawing his own keyblade.

"Sora, listen. Vanitas has been manipulated by Xehanort all his life. That's why he's like that, so don't let what he says get to you too much. He wants to get under your skin," Ventus said softly by Sora's ear. "But if there's one thing I know, he doesn't lie very much. He tells the cruel truth more often." Ventus cleared his throat and faced Vanitas. "Listen, Vanitas. You don't need to do this. You can join our side. You can our brother."

That only seemed to piss him off more as Vanitas' wicked smile turned into a scowl, looking like he was about ready to charge at them. "Shut the fuck up! You don't know anything about me, goody two shoes! You elves got everything you ever wanted while I was treated like dirt, like a monster! Well, now you see just how much of a monster I really am!"

Xion ran out with her sword drawn, catching Vanitas' keyblade as he charged. She skidded back a bit just from the brute force of the collision but held her own. Roxas was quick to run in with both keyblades, jumping up for a downward slash but hit an Unversed instead. Though he was worried sick about Riku, Sora took a deep breath and joined in the fight while Ventus shot arrows from the steps when any Unversed came too close. Even though this was his first time seeing Vanitas, Sora had to do something. His heart..he could practically feel how much it was hurting. He'd figure out a way to get rid of the discord he felt emanating from Vanitas..somehow.

Riku shrieked as volts of electricity jolted through his body. His limbs went completely rigid before relaxing painfully afterwards. Steam rose up from his skin which felt like it was about to just melt off. Gritting his teeth, he glared up at the woman standing before him with a look of amusement.

"You know, you're really making this a lot of fun with all your struggling. If you just give up, the pain will go away," she chuckled, leaning down to his level.

"Larxene..I knew I sensed someone here. You know I'd rather die than give myself up or my friends," Riku said with a hoarse cough. Everytime he tried to get up, his arms felt like jelly as they inevitably collapsed.

"Gods, your heroic drivel is really starting to get on my nerves. I'm trying to be nice here. I could just as easily knock you out and drag you back, but I'm giving you a chance to have some common sense. After all, once your friends find out what you are, I'm sure they'll be turning on you." She shot another bolt of lightning at him, knocking Riku onto his back.

"They already know I'm a dream eater. So, what's your point?" As Riku coughed, a splatter of blood hit the ground and dripped from his lips. He didn't even want to think about how torn up his insides were right now.


End file.
